Post date: Feb 19, 2021 5:48:34 AM
“Zachar es Vashti v’eis asher a’sa’sah v’eis asher nigzar aleha”
He remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her
(2:1)
The Gemara (Shabbos 12b) says that this refers to Vashti’s execution. It was specifically on Shabbos as punishment for the way she treated the Jewish women on Shabbos. Not only did she force them to desecrate Shabbos by making them work, but she also made them work without their clothing.
Targum says that Vashti was punished for not giving the Jews permission to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash. This idea seems to contradict the explanation presented in the Gemara.
R. Itzele of Volozhin used to say that Shabbos and the Beis Hamikdash each cause Kedusha (holiness) to reside within Klal Yisroel. (Building the Beis Hamikdash doesn’t override the restrictions of Shabbos because, in this regard, they are equal.)
Vashti was aware of how keeping Shabbos affected Klal Yisroel’s Kedusha. Vashti was the antithesis of Kedusha, and she was also quite evil, so she made sure that the women desecrated Shabbos. Additionally, she knew that a Jew could fulfill the mitzvah of Kavod Shabbos (honoring Shabbos) simply by wearing special Shabbos clothes. So she made the women undress in order to eliminate any trace of Shabbos observance.
[The King’s Treasures, p. 35]
Posted 2/19/21