Question:
1) Since Esther didn’t return to Mordechai for the rest of her life, how can it be that Purim was a time of Geulah if this tzadekes had to spend the rest of her life being married to a rasha?
Answer:
The Geulah on Purim was a preparation for the Geulah shelaimah (complete Redemption), but it was not yet the Geulah shelaimah itself. The Gemara says that “We are still the slaves of Achashveirosh” (Talmud Bavli Megillah 14a). Mordechai was only favored by “most” of Klal Yisrael, but not to all of them, and the Gemara says that this was because he had to be involved with the government, so he was not accepted by everyone after that. And, similarly, Esther remained as Achashveirosh’s queen. However, the Zohar says that Esther took control of Achashveirosh’s power and of his entire kingdom. Esther represents the spiritual point of malchus d’Atzilus, and Achashverosh was the Zeir Anpin on the side of impurity. According to the Zohar, she sent a demon in her stead to be with Achashveirosh, and this is unlike the view of the Talmud Bavli, which states that Achashveirosh was forced to be with Achashveirosh. The sefer Magid Meisharim writes that because the Jewish people sinned by marrying gentile women, they were punished with Esther being forced to be married a rasha. The sefer Chemdas Yomim says that Esther represents the Malchus D’Atzilus, the Shechinah, which was placed into exile, for she was forced to be married to a wicked person, like a rose among the thorns. The Ramchal also writes that Esther being forced to be with Achashveirosh represents how the Shechinah is currently exiled to the Sitra Achra, to the side of evil. Achashveirosh wanted to control Esther – the Shechinah – but Mordechai made the demon swear that it would take Esther’s stead and go to Achashverosh instead. So even when she had to go willingly to Achashverosh, she never actually was with him, because she sent a demon to be with him instead, so she never actually stayed with Achashverosh for the rest of her life. It was only in the beginning when she was first taken as queen, that she had to be with Achashverosh – but she did not actually remain with him.
Question:
2) Did Achashverosh become a friend of the Jewish people after the Purim story? Did he come to love the Jewish people?
Answer:
Yaaros Devash (I:3) states that Achashverosh remained an anti-semite and enemy of the Jewish people, and the Gemara (Talmud Bavli Megillah 16a) compares Achashverosh to a mound followed by a ditch, meaning that he was a treacherous enemy of the Jewish people, for he still wouldn’t allow the Beis HaMikdash to be rebuilt. The Gemara there also says that when Esther pointed her finger at Haman and said, “This terrible man and enemy”, she was actually referring to none other than Achashverosh. Thus, any power that Achashverosh allowed to Mordechai afterward was only out of his love for Esther, but not because he loved the Jewish people.
Question:
3) The Gemara says that “The grandsons of Haman learned Torah in Bnei Brak” (Talmud Bavli Gittin 57b). How could something good come out of Haman, who is Amalek, total evil?
Answer:
This is discussed in sefer Pachad Yitzchok: Purim and in Kedushas Levi. The sefer Shem m’Shmuel (Tetzaveh) says that it doesn’t mean Haman’s actual grandsons, because how could they have converted to Judaism if we aren’t allowed to accept converts from Amalek? What the Gemara means is that there were some sparks of holiness in Haman. The sefer Beis Aharon explains that these sparks of holiness in Haman were rooted in the fact that Esther invited Haman to her party, which apparently gave some holiness to Haman. And on a deeper level, the Torah learning of Haman’s grandsons means that Haman had a spark of good in himself simply because the name “Amalek” is a word of the holy Torah, and that is what enables Amalek to have any holiness in it – the fact that Amalek is a word in the Torah. Reb Tzadok HaKohen (in sefer Resisei Leilah) also discusses this matter. Even in cases where there were those who accepted Amalekites to convert to Judaism, it was in order to convert any sparks of holiness found in Amalek, into Judaism.
Question:
4) What is the connection between the events of Purim and Acharis HaYomim (the End of Days)?
Answer:
In the times of Purim, the people fell into the “50th level of impurity” [from enjoying the party of Achashverosh] and as a hint, Haman built a gallows that was 50 amos high. In the Acharis HaYomim, we are in the 50th level within the 50th level of impurity, its innermost level.
Question:
5) What’s a good commentary to learn on Megillas Esther?
Answer:
This is relative to each person.
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