BS”D
One of the ‘advantages’ (or otherwise) of not growing up
Jewish is I have little in the way of midrashic baggage when approaching Tanakh.
So, despite the blog title, my comfort zone is usually p’shat.
A great example of this is Megillat Esther. This year was b”H
my tenth of leining from the Megilla. And what I’ve realised is this - learning
Megillat Esther this way is very different from being a passive listener (where
your attention wanders after Haman gets hanged) or growing up with kid-friendly
midrashim like Vashti growing a tail.
Learning to lein requires active close reading of the p’shat.
Every single word has to be mastered, together with the trop. And because women
usually learn a section at a time instead of the whole Megilla, you master it
in layers – which makes it easier to spot patterns over different parts of the
Megilla than if you learn it all in one go.[1]
Is this an argument for wider learning of Tanakh with the
trop rather than just leaving this to bar mitzva boys? I’ll leave that thought
hanging 😉
What follows are my observations from the bits of Megilla
that I’ve learnt so far (if you don’t see much about Chapters 1 or 10, it’s
because I haven’t tried learning them yet). They aren’t particularly coherent
and there’s no specific message I’m trying to convey – take it as an
information dump for further research[2].
Trop observations are all for nusach Ashkenaz only (sorry to
any Sephardi readers).
Megilla text breaks vs (modern) chapter breaks
When you actually read the klaf, it becomes obvious these
don’t match up. See below. Hopefully this also helps as a plot summary.
|
Megilla
section |
Chapter/
Modern ‘Perek’ |
|
The King
throws a party |
1 |
|
Vashti rebels |
1 |
|
The King asks
– what to do with Vashti? |
1 |
|
Memuchan
solves the Vashti Problem |
1 |
|
The King’s
next problem – no Queen. His servants solve the problem. |
2 |
|
Mordechai and
Esther introduced. Esther forced into the palace, becoming Queen |
2 |
|
The Bigtan
and Teresh Plot |
2 |
|
Haman
introduced. Mordechai rebels. Haman gets genocidal. He casts lots which
‘choose’ Adar. |
3 |
|
Haman bribes
the King, getting the royal seal and a free hand. On 13th Nissan
Haman issues letters decreeing genocide against the Jews. |
3 |
|
Mordechai
mourns, very publicly (as do the Jews). Esther investigates. Mordechai
persuades her to act. Esther declares a 3-day fast, then risks her life going
to the King. The King and Haman go to Esther’s first feast. Haman’s good mood
is spoilt by seeing Mordechai on his way home. Haman’s wife and friends
suggest the gallows solution. Haman builds the gallows. |
4 and 5 |
|
The King
can’t sleep and asks for some midnight reading, reminding him of Mordechai’s
(unrewarded) role in stopping the Bigtan and Teresh Plot. Haman shows up to
ask if he can execute Mordechai and is roped into devising his reward
instead. Haman parades Mordechai through Shushan, going home humiliated.
Second feast with Esther, the King and Haman. Esther reveals death sentence
against her and her people. |
6 and 7 |
|
The King gets
angry. Esther calls out Haman. Haman begs for mercy while the King gets some
air. The King finds Haman in a compromising position, is told about the
gallows for Mordechai, and orders Haman’s immediate execution thereon. |
7 |
|
The King
gives Haman’s estate to Esther and his royal seal (previously with Haman) to
Mordechai. |
8 |
|
Esther gets
emotional and begs the King to save her people. |
8 |
|
The King fobs
off Esther and says she and Mordechai can write what they want using the
royal seal. On 23rd Sivan Mordechai issues letters allowing Jews
to destroy their enemies. |
8 |
|
Mordechai
parades again in Shushan. All the Jews are happy. The non-Jews are afraid,
especially of Mordechai. On 13th Adar the Jews kill their enemies
including the ten sons of Haman. The King grants Esther an extra day for the
Shushan Jews to kill their enemies (plus hanging Haman’s sons). The Jews
celebrate and make a holiday. Mordechai sends a letter clarifying how to do
the holiday. A summary (in case we’d forgotten) of what Haman planned and why
we celebrate Purim. Lots of emphasis on the Jews accepting this. |
8 and 9 |
|
Esther and
Mordechai send a second letter about Purim, this time mentioning fasting and
mourning. Esther orders ‘these matters about Purim’ to be written in a book |
9 |
|
The King
taxes his empire. Mordechai is very important and does his best for the Jews.
Most of the Jews like him. |
10 |
For the rest of this piece, I’ll refer to the modern chapter
numbers.
LET’S GET WORDY
Motif – clothes and crowns
- Chapter 1 – Vashti is asked
to appear with her keter (crown).
- Chapter 2 – Esther is
crowned Queen with a keter.
- Chapter 4 – Mordechai dresses
in sackcloth and refuses to put on the clothes sent by Esther, which prompts Esther
to send her servant to investigate.
- Chapter 5 – Esther dresses
in malchut for her life-risking visit to the King.
- Chapter 6 – Mordechai is
dressed in the King’s clothes and a keter as his overdue reward for
saving the King’s life.
- Chapter 8 – Mordechai again
goes out, now dressed in malchut with a keter. The colours of his clothes match the
furnishings at the King’s big party in Chapter 1.
Half my kingdom…or not
Once Esther comes to the King in Chapter 5, the King keeps
repeating the following line to her to as he tries to work out why she risked her life:
מַה־שְּׁאֵלָתֵךְ וְיִנָּתֵן לָךְ
וּמַה־בַּקָּשָׁתֵךְ עַד־חֲצִי הַמַּלְכוּת וְתֵעָשׂ
However, by the time we get to Chapter 9 and Esther has
satisfied his curiosity, we are missing the key words ‘I’ll give you up to half
of my kingdom’. Instead, we just get:
וּמַה־שְּׁאֵלָתֵךְ וְיִנָּתֵן לָךְ
וּמַה־בַּקָּשָׁתֵךְ עוֹד וְתֵעָשׂ
Is this a sign that the King’s interest is waning? Esther
takes the opportunity to ask for another day’s grace for the Jews to fight back
in Shushan. Did she sense that she couldn’t push any further?
Repeated words/phrases within Megilla
וַיִּיטַב הַדָּבָר בְּעֵינֵי [X]
וַיַּעַשׂ כֵּן
X being at various points the King, Haman etc.
וַתִּיטַב הַנַּעֲרָה בְעֵינָיו
This is said a few times about Esther
אִם־מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֵי
הַמֶּלֶךְ וְאִם־עַל־הַמֶּלֶךְ טוֹב
Re: the first part of this phrase, see also other Tanakh
links below.
נָפַל פַּחַד
This is repeated at least three times at the end of Chapter 8 and the start of Chapter 9 about the non-Jews. Clearly a focal point for events here.
Tricky Persian-sounding words...
Because they make you stumble. Chapters 3 and 8 showcase
these when the letters are sent out – for example הָאֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנִים and
הָאֲחַשְׁתְּרָנִים
. Usually a sign of the Persian state apparatus being involved?
Key connections with other parts of Tanakh
The most obvious one is where the Eicha trop kicks in[3].
See – the keilim at the King’s party, Mordechai’s history, the transition
between Chapters 3 and 4, Esther’s dedication to her mission near the end of
Chapter 4, and finally Esther’s plea to the King in Chapter 8. Some also slip a
bit of this in when Esther reveals the plot against the Jews in Chapter 7. [4]
There are others:
אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה
Both Chapters 2 and 3 open with this. I’ve been immersed in
the Avraham narratives recently, so to me this screams out ‘opening of the Akeida’.
An AlHaTorah search reveals this phrase is actually used 6 times in Sefer
Bereishit – 3 times about events in Avraham’s life (including the Akeida) and 3
for Yosef’s life. The next most frequent uses are in Sefer Melachim and – you’ve
guessed it – Megillat Esther.
וְהַנַּעֲרָה יְפַת־תֹּאַר וְטוֹבַת
מַרְאֶה
וַתְּהִי אֶסְתֵּר נֹשֵׂאת חֵן
בְּעֵינֵי כׇּל־רֹאֶיהָ
וַיֶּאֱהַב הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת־אֶסְתֵּר
מִכׇּל־הַנָּשִׁים
All these descriptions of Esther echo those of Rachel and
Yosef. Potentially significant – Esther and Mordechai are from the tribe of Binyamin
and Mordechai ends up taking on a Yosef-like role for the King.
And finally…
וַיִּזְעַק זְעָקָה גְדוֹלָה וּמָרָה
Mordechai’s cry in Chapter 4 echoes Esav’s cry when he finds
out Ya’akov has tricked him out of his blessing. (Yes, I know this is
well-commented on).
LET’S GET STRUCTURAL
Huh? What’s going on here?
There’s two parts where I really don’t have a good
explanation (yet).
The end of Chapter 2 – Esther tells King about the
assassination plot against him ‘in Mordechai’s name’. This is obviously key to
later events. However, at this point Esther is still hiding her Jewish
identity. How does she pass on this message to the King without arousing
suspicions over her relationship with Mordechai - either as a Jew, or in
general as someone outside the palace who she is regularly in touch with?
Remember, this is the quick-tempered King who just got rid of his previous
Queen for disrespecting him.
And then there’s Chapter 10. Why do we even have this? What’s
the point? This is especially obvious in readings where you’re dividing up the
leining – Chapter 10 becomes a little stub at the end whose only saving grace
is that a) some total beginners want to have a go at it and b) it’s tied in
with the closing bracha.
If you do chiasms, Chapter 6 is the turning point – and
very funny too
Chiasms are the ‘in thing’ in some quarters. This is where
you break down a series of events or themes into an ABCDCBA structure, where D
is a standalone turning point. Applying this to the Megilla, Chapter 6 comes
out as the watershed scene.
This whole chapter is sharply comic[5],
and the trop only accentuates this. You could probably act the whole chapter
out as a comedy scene without deviating from the text – and it’s not just Haman
who is the target. I’d have to do a standalone post to point out all the details,
but some highlights:
-
When the King asks his
servants whether Mordechai ever got rewarded, the trop gets really flowery
introducing the servants before coming back down to earth with their reply that…err…nope,
nothing’s been done.
-
When Haman consults his
friends at the end, they start out as אֹהֲבָיו but become חֲכָמָיו when
pointing out that he’s doomed to fail at Mordechai’s hands. Haman’s probably
wondering – you egged me on to build gallows for Mordechai, and now you’re the ‘wise
guys’? Come on…
Otherwise, Chapter 8 is the turning point which either
mirrors or resolves earlier points
|
Earlier
Chapter |
Chapter
8 |
|
2 – Esther
hides her people and background from the King |
Esther
reveals her relationship with Mordechai ‘HaYehudi’ to the King |
|
3 – King
gives his royal seal to Haman |
King gives
his royal seal to Mordechai |
|
3 – 13th
Nissan letters decree to kill all the Jews and loot their belongings |
23rd
Sivan letters allow the Jews to do exactly the same thing to their enemies as
the 13th Nissan letters decreed against the Jews |
|
3 – 13th
Nissan letters to kill the Jews are addressed to each nation in their own language |
23rd
Sivan letters for the Jews to kill their enemies are addressed to each nation
in their language, PLUS the Jews in their own language. Implication - the
first letters weren’t addressed to the Jews like this! |
|
3-4 – the
Jews across the empire are in mourning. See also Eicha trop |
The Jews
across the empire are happy and making a ‘Yom Tov’ |
|
5 – Esther
enters the King’s chamber and is saved by him extending the golden sceptre |
8 – Esther
prostrates herself before the King and he extends the golden sceptre. Did she
go into the inner chamber uninvited again? |
And finally Chapter 9 – two (OK, three) interesting
points
a)
Given Chapter 8, it’s now clear
that the Jews are only able to defend themselves thanks to Mordechai’s royally-endorsed
edict. This is all subject to the King’s patience, which is now running thin
(see earlier re: Half my Kingdom). If you’re running with a geopolitical
interpretation, this is an important dynamic.
b)
Despite being permitted to
do so, the Jews don’t actually lay hands on any of their enemies’ loot. The
Megilla emphasises this at line ends:
וּבַבִּזָּה לֹא שָׁלְחוּ אֶת־יָדָם
c)
The Purim mitzvot are set
out repeatedly, but with different nuances:
a.
First, the people mark Purim
themselves on 14th Adar with feasting, a Yom Tov and Mishlochei
Manot.
b.
Mordechai’s first letter decrees
the holiday elements should be feasting, Mishlochei Manot and Matanot L’Evyonim.
He also insists that Purim be marked on both the 14th and 15th
of Adar.
c.
The Megilla’s description
of the second letter (from Esther and Mordechai) doesn’t mention any of the
Purim mitzvot, but compares accepting Purim to accepting days for fasting and
crying.
And finally finally - which ‘Sefer’ is this all being
written into at the end?
With that, I wish you a Purim Meshulash Sameach!
RPT
[1] For
example, Chapter 8 was one of the earlier perakim which I learnt – so the table
below about Chapter 8 is mostly based on my noticing things while learning earlier
perakim after mastering Chapter 8.
[2] Before
you ask – yes, I know about Rabbi Dovid Fohrman’s book, which I have now read.
These thoughts were put together before I read his book – they were not inspired
by it.
[3] I
know this sounds wrong, but I actually really like the Eicha trop. Apparently I’m
not alone in this.
[4] It’s
not a Tanakh link, but some also have the tradition to open Chapter 6 with a
Kol Nidre-like tune. Again, I love doing this.
[5] as,
tbh, are some parts of Chapter 7
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