Post date: Mar 10, 2014 5:0:24 AM
“Sheva hani’aros”
Seven maidservants
(2:9)
We’re taught by the Gemara (Megilah 13a) that Esther kept track of the days of the week by assigning a different maidservant to each day. But what’s so hard about keeping track of what day it is, and why was it so important?
The Ben Yehoyahu says that the difficulty was in knowing when it was Shkiah (sunset) so as to know when Shabbos began. It would be suspicious for her to constantly run to the window to look at the sky. By arranging that the maidservants would rotate just before Shkiah, she would be assured of knowing when Shabbos began and would not do any Melacha (creative activity) on Shabbos.
Reb Yonoson Eibeschitz adds that while the weekday maidservants assumed that Esther did Melacha on all seven days of the week (like all non-Jews) because that’s what they saw, the Shabbos maidservant assumed that Esther refrained from bothering herself with any kind of exertion like all queens since that what she saw.
[Zvi Fleisher @ shemayisrael.com]
“Vaye’ehav Hamelech es Esther”
And the king loved Esther
(2:17)
Why is the word “Es” needed in our Pasuk? It would seem that our Pasuk could have been more concise and just as clear had it eliminated the word “Es” (and worded the phrase “V’hamelech ahav Esther,” and the king loved Esher) reducing the phrase from four words to three. It must be that the word is there to teach us something.
The Kosnos Ohr mentions a Zohar (in Parshas Ki Seitzei) that tells us that Achashveirosh never actually cohabited with Esther. Rather, an impersonator of Esther (a Sheid/demon) was taken to him. This is alluded to by the superfluous word “Es” in our Pasuk.
R. Zvi Fleisher suggests that perhaps this is another reason why we disguise ourselves on Purim.
[Zvi Fleisher @ shemayisrael.com]