Welcome back to Nach Daily, covering the entire Tanach one perek at a time. I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman.

Today, we’re going to begin Megilas Esther with the 1st of two introductions to it.

Purim is only a few weeks away, and there’s no better way to prepare for it!

It’s safe to say that this is the best-known and most studied of all the Megilas. I’m humbled to be added to the tens of thousands of people who have given classes on this subject through the years. As we study this Megila, we will touch upon the deeper meaning of the story and its lessons for our everyday lives. Gleaned from the classical, Chassidic, Kabbalistic and modern-day commentaries, Nach Daily will highlight some of the better known themes as well as those less familiar. I think that there have been new commentaries on Esther ever since the Megila was originally accepted by Anshei K’neset Hagedolah, the Men of the Great Assembly, in the time of Mordechai.

Megilas Esther is the only one with many halachos about reading and writing it (Orech Chayim, Siman 792). It’s also the only one to have a masechta in Shas attached to it, which makes the back story even more well known.

Esther wanted the Megila to be incorporated into our Tanach. When she said “Kavuni l’doros – establish me for future generations,” Chazal were initially hesitant because they thought it would arouse extra anti-Semitism. Eventually they acquiesced, after finding a support for its inclusion in the Torah (Megila 7A).

The History

The story of Esther takes place in the Persian capitol of Shushan during the last years of the Babylonian exile, between the first and second Temples. The empire of Bavel had already been conquered by Darius, AKA Daryavesh, who was succeeded by his son-in-law Cyrus AKA Koresh. Cyrus had already given permission for the Jews

to return to Eretz Yisrael and rebuild the Beis Hamikdash, but revoked it shortly after, putting the redemption to a halt and leaving the process of geulah in limbo. Megilas Esther opens with the rule of Achashverosh who was the successor to Cyrus.

The Jews at that time were disunited and scattered throughout the Persian Empire, with assimilation on the rise.

Achashverosh’s wife, Vashti, was the granddaughter of Nevuchadnetzer who had destroyed the Beis Hamikdash. Vashti actually persuaded Achashverosh to continue to leave the destruction caused by her grandfather. Construction on the Beis Hamikdash didn’t actually resume until Darius, son of Achashverosh and Esther, allowed its building.

The implied message is that had the Beis Hamikdash been rebuilt and most of the nation still living in Eretz Yisrael, none of this would have happened. The story of Esther was Hashem’s way to bring the Jews to teshuvah. As the Gemara in Megila says, the giving of Achashverosh’s ring to Haman was greater than 1,000 fasts. The understanding they were on the brink of physical annihilation brought them to teshuva.

Chaggai Hanavi lived in the time of Darius the 1st. When permission was given to the Jews to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash, Hashem asked Chaggai why the Jews had stopped its building. Why didn’t everyone return to Eretz Yisrael?

The overtones of Eretz Yisrael play itself out many times throughout the Megila, most notably in the halachos of Shushan Purim. Cities that were walled in the times of Yehoshua Ben Nun are required to celebrate Purim on a different day because the most notable city at that time was Yerushalayim. Chazal wanted to give extra respect and honor to Yerushalayim by giving it its own day to celebrate. In this way the Jews both in Persia and the exile should remember for all generations the fact that we are in galus and need to return to Eretz Yisrael.

I hope you enjoyed this episode of Nach Daily. Iy”H I’ll go into more detail as we go through the Megila. In the next shiur we’ll be giving one more introduction touching on the non-miraculous miracle that took place in the times of Esther.

Thank you for listening and have a wonderful day.