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Answering that Age-Old Question about Esther
by Rabbi Nosson Scherman
The poignancy of Esther's plight is almost certainly the most gripping
part of the Megillah story in purely personal terms. A Jewish
girl hoping against hope not to become First Lady of the world, finds
herself spending twelve months in an alien harem dedicated to the sole
purpose of preparing for the king's pleasure. Then, she is chosen queen
and lives at the center of oriental intrigue and passion while guarding
the secret of her origin and secretly holding fast to her religion.
According to our Sages, however, the personal suffering of Esther was
even more acute. "Mordechai took her to himself like a daughter,"
[Esther 2:7], The Talmud , (Megillah 13a) comments: don't
read this phrase "like a daughter," but "like a `home' [meaning as a
wife]." Thus, we have a married Jewess -- who remained married to
Mordechai all through her ordeal in the palace -- simultaneously living
with a gentile husband.
As a matter of fact, it was the very circumstance of her ordeal that
convinced Mordechai that some higher Divine motive lay behind Esther's
fond entry into Ahasuerus' grotesque, international beauty contest.
Esther, according to the Talmud, (Megillah 74a) was a prophetess, a supremely righteous woman who, since she was married, should not
even have been eligible for queenship according to the rules laid down
by Ahasuerus' chamberlains. They violated their own rules by taking
married women. But Esther should have merited at least so minor a
miracle that she should not stand out among the many hundreds of
contestants.
Instead, whoever saw her was captivated by her. Mordechai, a prophet
possessed of the holy spirit in his own right, surely knew that a
G-d-given "thread of grace" rested upon her, enabling her to win the
king's heart. These were unmistakable indications to him that G-d wanted
her in the palace for some higher purpose than merely being Ahasuerus'
consort. So Esther remained brave and Mordechai bided his time.
We can feel the depth of her ordeal through her prayer and plaint to G-d
as she prepared to break the law by appearing unbidden to beg Ahasuerus
for the survival of her brethren:
"My G-d, my G-d, why have you forsaken me. Why have you changed the
order of the world and the order of the Jewish mothers against me. Sarah
was taken captive by Pharaoh for one night and he and his household were
punished. I have been placed in the bosom of this evil man for so many
years and no miracles have helped me. Jewish women have three special
commandments and I keep them even here. Why have you forsaken
me?"[Midrash Shocher Tov 22:26.]
According to those who hold that Esther was married to Mordechai, her
plight presents enormously complex Halachic problems. She was involved
in two sins -- even though she was coerced -- which every Jew must
sacrifice his very life to avoid:
Name of G-d, also a sin that a Jew must give up life itself to avoid.
There is a third area of difficulty: a married woman who commits
adultery is forbidden to her husband unless she was coerced. When Esther
went to plead for her people, she went willingly, thus becoming
forbidden to her husband.
The primary Talmudic sources on these questions are Kesubos 3b
and Sanhedrin 74b where Tosafos and other commentators
deal with these matters at length. We will offer no more than a few of
their main trends of thought. Anyone seeking a full understanding of the
matter should, of course, consult the primary sources. It goes without
saying that nothing that follows should be used as a basis for Halachic
decision.
Esther was never an active participant in either the sin of adultery or
the sin of desecration at any time during her marriage to Ahasuerus
[Sanhedrin 74b]. Her righteousness was of such magnitude that her
initial revulsion at being forced to submit herself to the King was
never in doubt, nor was there the slightest suspicion that it became
eroded with the passage of time or the allures of palace life
[Tosefos, Kesubos 57b]. An important element in any consideration
of potential desecration of the Name is whether the non-Jew requiring
the given act intends that the Jewish victim violate his religion
[Sanhedrin 74b]. Ahasuerus was driven solely by passion; not
knowing Esther was Jewish, he could have had no intention that she
profane her religion. Even after she revealed her identity, Ahasuerus'
desire to retain her as queen was purely a product of his love for her
rather than as an intention to desecrate her religious beliefs. Until
the fateful days when Esther voluntarily presented herself to Ahasuerus
to pursue the salvation of her people, Mordechai had no doubts about her
status as his wife. Then, she feared that Mordechai might suspect her of
acting the temptress and no longer wish to remain her husband despite
the compelling circumstances under which she acted [see Shitah
Mekubetzes,
