Post date: Feb 25, 2021 4:28:51 AM
“Bayom hahu nasan Hamelech Achashveirosh l’Esther Hamalka es beis Haman”
On that very day King Achashveirosh gave Esther the Queen Haman’s house
(8:1)
Why does the Megillah emphasize that Haman’s estate was given to Esther on the very day that Haman was executed? Would it have been any less significant if he’d given the estate to her a week later?
R. Eliezer Ginzburg explains to us that killing a powerful minister like Haman without having an actual trial wasn’t a simple matter, even for Achashveirosh. Haman likely had many political allies, and killing him impulsively could have sparked a coup d’Shushan. So Achashveirosh spread the word that Haman had been executed for attempting to seduce the Queen. Given those circumstances, people would have understood how Achashveirosh couldn’t have been expected to behave rationally. Then, to further bolster his scheme, he awarded Haman’s estate to Esther immediately as reparation for the disgraceful ordeal that she had been subjected to.
For all of this to play out properly, the timing was critical, and it all had to happen immediately after Haman’s execution.
[The King’s Treasures, p. 112]
Posted 2/25/21