I was told that The Jewish Center wanted to add more Nakh study to their program. The previous Assistant Rabbi, R' Beuchler used to give Tanakh shiurim, and I was honored with the privilege of creating and giving a new Tanakh series. The idea that I pitched, and what we're starting tonight, is a study of the Five Megilot. We're at a point in the year when we're coming up to the holidays on which the Megilahs are read, and my idea was to learn the Megilot in the order that we will encounter them in the Chagim.
It seems to me that if a Megilah was chosen to be read on a certain holiday, something about the character of that Megilah tells us important things about that holiday. Sometimes the connection is obvious, as is the case with Eikhah on Tish'ah b'Av, but sometimes it's not obvious, such as why we read Rus on Shavuos or Shir haShirim on Pesach. As part of this series, I hope to explore that question, especially for the less obvious Megilahs.
The most obvious connection between Megilah and holiday is Esther to Purim, which is just over a month away. Purim is the only Biblical holiday not mentioned in the Torah, and is as odd a holiday as Esther is an odd Biblical book, which we'll hopefully make clear tonight.
It seems to me that if a Megilah was chosen to be read on a certain holiday, something about the character of that Megilah tells us important things about that holiday. Sometimes the connection is obvious, as is the case with Eikhah on Tish'ah b'Av, but sometimes it's not obvious, such as why we read Rus on Shavuos or Shir haShirim on Pesach. As part of this series, I hope to explore that question, especially for the less obvious Megilahs.
The most obvious connection between Megilah and holiday is Esther to Purim, which is just over a month away. Purim is the only Biblical holiday not mentioned in the Torah, and is as odd a holiday as Esther is an odd Biblical book, which we'll hopefully make clear tonight.
I intend tonight's shiur to have three parts, after which I'd like to open the floor for any questions or comments. I don't intend to speak long, and I intend all of these classes to be interactive. If you type any comments into the chat, I will read them after I finish my remarks, and if you have a very burning question, feel free to interrupt me at any time.
1) Esther as a Purim Shpiel
2) The controversy of Megilas Esther
3) Esther in Halakhah
1) Esther as a Purim Shpiel
2) The controversy of Megilas Esther
3) Esther in Halakhah
Esther as a Purim Shpiel
Besides for anything else, Esther is a great work of literature. It's not very long, and unlike most other books in Tanakh, it has elements of satire, irony, farce, comedy, and tragedy. It has complex symmetries, reversals, foreshadowing, and recurring motifs.
Many of these elements were intuited and maximized in the Midrashic tradition.
Besides for anything else, Esther is a great work of literature. It's not very long, and unlike most other books in Tanakh, it has elements of satire, irony, farce, comedy, and tragedy. It has complex symmetries, reversals, foreshadowing, and recurring motifs.
Many of these elements were intuited and maximized in the Midrashic tradition.
- Vashti wasn't just told to appear wearing her crown, Vashti was ordered to appear wearing nothing BUT her crown, and she didn't merely refuse to come on a whim. She developed hideous boils and grew a tail. (I don't remember where, but I could swear I once saw that some mephorshim understand זנב not as tail, but as a male anatomical appendage.)
- Haman didn't just lead Mordechai on the king's horse throughout town, Haman's daughter emptied a chamber pot on his head, she committed suicide when she realized what she did, and he wasn't allowed time to bathe before attending Esther's second banquet.
- Haman's anger against Mordechai was additionally fueled by the fact that Mordechai had purchased Haman as a slave with a document signed on the sole of Mordechai's boot. While everyone was bowing to Haman, Mordechai would stand and show the sole of his shoe.
The controversy
Esther, like Shir haShirim, is a very radical text. There were at least three major concerns with them:
** Esther asks the Jews to fast on her behalf, but the absence of any explicit reference to prayer in such dire circumstances is quite striking.
*** Indeed, there seem to be several violations of Mitzvos in Esther. The Midrashic tradition, however, adds pious details:
Notably, Esther is the only book in Tanakh that isn't represented in any fragment found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. This doesn't necessarily mean anything, as some books are only represented by a single tiny frangment. It is interesting, however, that the Qumran community used a calendar which would have 14 Adar fall out on Shabbos every year.
Esther, like Shir haShirim, is a very radical text. There were at least three major concerns with them:
- Neither Esther nor Shir haShirim mentions God*, or such central Biblical and Jewish concepts as prayer**, prophecy, sacrifices, Torah, or Mitzvos***.
** Esther asks the Jews to fast on her behalf, but the absence of any explicit reference to prayer in such dire circumstances is quite striking.
*** Indeed, there seem to be several violations of Mitzvos in Esther. The Midrashic tradition, however, adds pious details:
- Mordechai wasn't a simple Jewish exile, he was a member of the Anshei Knesses haGedolah. Indeed, he and Esther were both prophets.
- Esther doesn't only pray, in the moment before she approaches the king uninvited she authors Tehilim chapter 22.
- Although no explicit reference is made to her diet, the Midrash informs us that Esther ate only kosher food, or went vegetarian like Daniel, Chananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. (The vegetarianism of the latter four is made explicit in Sefer Daniel.)
- Intricate Halakhic solutions are offered for how Esther could have slept with a non-Jewish man, and many Halakhos are learned from those discussions.
- Mordechai finds hope in a conversation with young Jewish schoolchildren about the Pasukim they'd learned that day.
- In different ways, Shir haShirim and Esther celebrate female sexuality and autonomy.
- The Talmud is explicit about the problematic nature of Esther's celebration that the Jews were allowed to slaughter their enemies:
אמר רב שמואל בר יהודה שלחה להם אסתר לחכמים קבעוני לדורות שלחו לה קנאה את מעוררת עלינו לבין האומות! שלחה להם כבר כתובה אני על דברי הימים למלכי מדי ופרס
Similar reservations are mentioned in the Talmud about Shir haShirim, and we'll discuss those when we discuss Shir haShirim.
Notably, Esther is the only book in Tanakh that isn't represented in any fragment found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. This doesn't necessarily mean anything, as some books are only represented by a single tiny frangment. It is interesting, however, that the Qumran community used a calendar which would have 14 Adar fall out on Shabbos every year.
Early Church fathers were also concerned about Esther and Shir haShirim. Neither book is mentioned or quoted in the New Testament, some Eastern Churches still question it, and the horrible 16th-century Protestant reformer Martin Luther wished it was never written.
The Greek version of Esther in the Septuagint has over 100 additional verses, and they do include explicit references to God, prayer, and prophecy.
The Greek version of Esther in the Septuagint has over 100 additional verses, and they do include explicit references to God, prayer, and prophecy.
Esther in Halakhah
There's something exciting about the book of Esther, and that's not just a historical, sociological, or personal statement, it's a halakhic principle. The first Mishnah in the 4th chapter of Megilah says that if one heard Esther read by multiple people at the same time, they are yotzei. The halakhah would not be the same for Torah reading or other books of Tanakh, where only one person can read it at a time. Why is Esther different?
The Gemara answers that כֵּיוָן דַּחֲבִיבָה — יָהֲבִי דַּעְתַּיְיהוּ וְשָׁמְעִי, since Esther is cherished, the listeners will pay close attention and hear it. Even if ten people read it at the same time, everyone listening will have discharged their obligation.
There's something exciting about the book of Esther, and that's not just a historical, sociological, or personal statement, it's a halakhic principle. The first Mishnah in the 4th chapter of Megilah says that if one heard Esther read by multiple people at the same time, they are yotzei. The halakhah would not be the same for Torah reading or other books of Tanakh, where only one person can read it at a time. Why is Esther different?
The Gemara answers that כֵּיוָן דַּחֲבִיבָה — יָהֲבִי דַּעְתַּיְיהוּ וְשָׁמְעִי, since Esther is cherished, the listeners will pay close attention and hear it. Even if ten people read it at the same time, everyone listening will have discharged their obligation.