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1) INTRODUCTIONS TO MEGILAS ESTHER

(a) Rav Dimi Bar Yitzchak began expounding the Megilah thusly: "Because we are servants, and in our bondage we did not abandon our Lord, and he stretched over us Chesed in front of the kings of Persia" - in the days of Haman.
(b) R. Chanina Bar Papa began expounding the Megilah thusly: "You made a man ride on our heads, we came in fire and water": "in fire" - in the days of Nebuchadnetzar the wicked; "in water" - in the days of Paro; "and you brought us out to plenty" - in the days of Haman.
(c) R. Yochanan began expounding the Megilah thusly: "Remember his Chesed and faithfulness to Beis Yisrael; see, all ends of the land, the salvation of our Lord". All ends of the land saw the salvation of our Lord in the days of Mordechai and Esther.
(d) Reish Lakish began expounding the Megilah thusly: "As a roaring lion and a hungry bear, an evil one rules over a poor nation."

1. "A roaring lion" is Nebuchadnetzar the evil, on whom it says "A lion rose from his thicket";
2. "A hungry bear is Achashverosh, on whom it says "And another animal, a second, like a bear"; Rav Yosef taught, these are Persians, who eat and drink like a bear, and are clothed with flesh like a bear, and grow hair like a bear, and have no rest like a bear.
3. "An evil one rules" is Haman.
4. "On a poor nation" is Yisrael, that are deficient in Mitzvahs.
5. R. Eliezer began expounding the Megilah thusly: "In laziness the roofer melts, in lowliness of hands the house leaks" - because of the laziness of Yisrael that did not engage in Torah, the hater of (a euphemism) Hashem became *Mach*;

i. *Mach* means poor, as it says, "If he is (too) *Mach* to pay his pledged value".
ii. "Hamakreh" is Hashem, as it says, "Who makes a roof with water in his upper stories".

(e) Rav Nachman Bar Yitzchak began expounding the Megilah thusly: "A song of the steps: If not for Hashem that was for us, let Yisrael say, if not for Hashem that was for us when a man rose against us" - a man (Haman) and not a king.
(f) Rava began expounding the Megilah thusly: "In the aggrandizing of Tzadikim the nation will rejoice, and in the rule of an evil one the nation will sigh" - "in the aggrandizing of Tzadikim" is Mordechai and Esther, as it says, "The city of Shushan was celebrating and joyous"; "in the rule of an evil one the nation will sigh" is Haman, as it says, "And the city of Shushan was confused".

1. Rav Masne derived this from the verse "For who is a great nation that has the Lord close to it".
2. Rav Ashi learned this from "Or has any god tried .."

(a) (Rav): "Vayehi in the days of Achashverosh" - ("Vayehi may be read "Vai and Hai") woe and mourning; this is the fulfillment of "You will sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves".
(b) (Shmuel): I did not despise them and I did not abhor them to destroy them": "I did not despise them" in the days of the Yevanim; "I did not abhor them" in the days of Nebuchadnetzar; "to destroy them" in the days of Haman; "to annul my covenant with them" in the days of the Persians; "for I am Hashem their Lord" in the days of Gog and Magog.

1. (Beraisa): "I did not despise them" in the days of the Babylonians, that I established for them Daniel, Chananyah, Misha'el and Azarya; "I did not abhor them" in the days of the Yevanim that I established for them Shimon ha'Tzadik, Chashmonai and his sons, and Matisyahu Kohen Gadol; "to destroy them" in the days of Haman that I established for them Mordechai and Esther; "to annul my covenant with them" in the days of the Persians that I established for them the house of Rebbi and Sages of the generations; "for I am Hashem their Lord" in the time to come that no nation or tongue will be able to rule over them.

(c) R. Levi began expounding from "If you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land".
(d) R. Chiya began expounding from "It will be, as I intended to do to them, I will do to you".
(e) "Achashverosh": Rav explained, "Achiv Shel Rosh" and Ben Gilo Shel Rosh; he is the brother of Nebuchadnetzar the evil, who was called Rosh, as it says "You are the head of gold";

1. He is the Ben Gilo of Rosh: He (Nebuchadnetzar) killed, he (Achashverosh) wanted to kill; he made desolate, he wanted to make desolate.

i. "At the beginning of Achashverosh's reign, they wrote accusation against the inhabitants of Yehuda and Yerushalayim".

(f) Shmuel explained the name, Hushcharu (were blackened) the faces of Yisrael, in his days, like the bottom of a pot.
(g) R. Yochanan explained: anyone who recalled him said "Ach" l'Rosho (had a headache).
(h) R. Chanina: All were made Rashin (poor) in his days, as it says, "the king Achashverosh put a tax".
(i) "He is Achashverosh" - he is in his evilness from his beginning to his end. Similarly:

1. "He is Esav" - he is in his evilness from his beginning to his end.
2. "He is Dasan and Aviram" - they are in their evilness from their beginning to their end.
3. "He is King Achaz" - he is in his evilness from his beginning to his end.
4. "Avram he is Avraham" - he is in his righteousness from his beginning to his end.
5. "He is Aharon and Moshe" - they are in their righteousness from their beginning to their end.
6. "Dovid he is the small one" - he is in his smallness from his beginning to his end; just as in his smallness he lowered himself in front of someone greater than him in Torah, so in his kingship he lowered himself in front of someone greater than him in wisdom.

(j) (Rav) "That rules" - he ruled by himself.

1. Some explain this to his credit, there was no one else as fitting as him to be king.
2. Some explain this to his detriment, he was not fitting to be king; he gave extra money, and became king.

(k) "From Hodu until Kush": Rav And Shmuel argued:

1. One of them said that they are at opposite ends of the world.
2. The other said that they are next to each other; just as he ruled over them, so he ruled from one end of the world to the other end.

(l) Similarly: "He [King Shlomo] dominated the entire other side of the river, from Tifsach until Azah";

1. Rav And Shmuel argued; one of them said that they are at opposite ends of the world.
2. The other said that they are next to each other; just as he ruled over them, so he ruled over the entire world.

(m) "7 and 20 and 100 provinces": (Rav Chisda) - first he ruled over 7, then 20, in the end over 100.

1. Question: If so, how will we explain "And the years of Amram were 7 and 30 and 100 years"?
2. Answer: Here it is different - the verse was not needed, since it says "from Hodu until Kush" (the whole world); "7 and 20 and 100" were written for this teaching.

(a) (Beraisa): 3 ruled over the world: Achav, Achashverosh and Nebuchadnetzar.

1. We know that Achav ruled over the world, for it says "I swear by Hashem your Lord, if there is a people or kingdom that my master has not sent there to seek you ... (and he made them swear)"; if he did not rule over them, how could he make them swear?
2. Nebuchadnetzar, as it says, "and the people and kingdom which will not put its neck in the yoke of the king of Bavel".
3. Achashverosh, as explained above.

(b) Question: Are there no more? Shlomo ruled over the world!
(c) Answer: He did not finish his reign (so he is not listed).

1. This fits the opinion that once he was deposed, he never resumed kingship.
2. Question: According to the opinion that he returned to kingship, why is he not listed?
3. Answer: Shlomo's reign was different - he ruled over higher beings and lower beings, as it says, "And Shlomo sat on the throne of Hashem".

(d) Question: Why isn't Sancheriv listed - it says, "Who among all the gods of these lands saved their land from my hand"!
(e) Answer: He didn't conquer Yerushalayim.
(f) Question: There is Daryavesh - it says, "Daryavesh the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the land, there should be great peace to you"!
(g) Answer: He didn't rule over 7 nations - "It was good to Daryavesh, he established his reign over 120 provinces".
(h) Question: There is Koresh - it says, "So says Koresh, king of Persia, all the kingdoms of the world Hashem gave me"!
(i) Answer: He was just aggrandizing himself (it was not true).

(a) "In those days *b'Shevet* ha'Melech (as the king sat)"; and it says later, "in the 3rd year of his reign".
(b) (Rava): "b'Shevet" means after *she'Nityashva* (was settled) his mind.

1. He said, Belshatzar calculated and erred; I calculated and did not err.
2. It says, "To the fulfillment of Bavel, 70 years I will redeem you", and "to fulfill to the destruction of Yerushalayim 70 years.
3. Belshatzar counted 45 years of Nebuchadnetzar, 23 of Evil-Merodik, and 2 of his own reign, making 70; he took out the vessels of the Temple and used them.

i. Question: How do we know that Nebuchadnetzar reigned 45 years?
ii. It was taught: The exile from Yerushalayim was in the 7th year, the 8th, the 18th, and the 19th.
iii. Some were exiled in the 7th year from Nebuchadnetzar's conquest of Yehoyakim; this was the 8th year of Nebuchadnetzar's reign.
iv. The exile of Tzidkiyahu (and most Jews) was in the 18th year from Nebuchadnetzar's conquest of Yehoyakim, which was the 19th year of Nebuchadnetzar's reign.
v. It was taught, in his 1st year, Nebuchadnetzar conquered Ninveh; in his 2nd year, he conquered Yehoyakim.
vi. "In the 37th year of the exile of Yehoyakim, Evil Merodik took Yehoyakim out of prison"; 37 and 8 make 45 years of Nebuchadnetzar.

4. We have a tradition that Evil Merodik reigned 23 years.
5. Belshatzar took out the vessels because he saw that we were not redeemed after 70 years.
6. This is why Daniel told him "You raised yourself against the master of Heaven, and brought the vessels of His house in front of you"; "On that night was killed Belshatzar king of the Babylonians".
7. "Daryavesh the Mede received the kingship when he was 62 years old".
8. Achashverosh: I will not err. The prophecy did not say to the kingship of Bavel, but *to* Bavel, exile in Bavel!
9. Belshatzar erred by 8 years. After his mistake was 1 year of his reign, 5 of Daryavesh and Koresh, and 2 of Achashverosh.
10. Once he saw that we were not redeemed after 70 years, he said, we will not be redeemed later. He took out the vessels of the Temple; the Satan came, danced among them, and killed Vashti.
11. Question: But his calculation was correct!
12. Answer: He erred - he should have calculated from the destruction of Yerushalayim.
13. Question: He was only 11 years off; he did rule 11 more years (14 in all) - the Temple should have been rebuilt in his day!

i. But it says "The building of the Temple in Yerushalayim stopped" (and was not finished until the 2nd year of the Daryavesh after Achashverosh)!

14. Answer (Rava): The years (in the above calculation) were incomplete (and they were really only 68 years).