Post date: Mar 20, 2016 5:58:49 AM
“Vatilakach Esther el beis hamelech”
And Esther was taken to the palace of the king
(2:8)
We can see the Hashgacha Pratis, the divine hand of Hashem, orchestrating every move. The process for all of the other girls was that they would initially be brought to Heigai to obtain perfumes, cosmetics and anything else they desired before their time with Achashveirosh. Then they would return to Heigai where they would remain unless they won the “pageant.” But the Megilas Sesarim tells us that our Pasuk is cluing us in to something different that happened with Esther. Esther had no desire to be selected by Achashveirosh. She was there simply because she had to be. As such, she had no need for perfumes, cosmetics or anything else. So Esther went straight to the king for her turn with him before going to Heigai for the first time. We see this from the fact that the Pasuk first tells us that she went to Achashveirosh, and only afterwards does it mention that she was under the watch of Heigai. But despite lacking the “extras” that were at the disposal of the other girls, Esther was nonetheless selected by Achashveirosh.
[Zvi Fleisher @ shemayisrael.com]