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Purim
Purim is one of the most celebrated Jewish holidays. It commemorates the victory of the Jews against the annihilation plan of Hamman the Agagite, as recounted in the Biblical Book of Esther.
204 Questions
What is the message of Esther?
The Book of Esther is about the Jews living in Babylon. It portrays them as representing all that is good and decent, but at the same time, utterly vengeful, unmerciful and uncompromising. In the words of Martin Luther, the Book of Esther 'lionises' the Jews, no doubt meaning that it attributes both the most endearing and the most fearsome characteristics of humanity to them.
Did Queen Esther have any children?
A Jewish tradition holds that Esther had one son, Darius II. It is true that we do not know the name of the mother of Darius II, but she could not have been Queen Esther. Darius II was known as Darius Nothus (Darius the bastard) because his mother was a concubine, Artaxerxes having no surviving legitimate heir, and therefore Darius II would could not have been the son of a legitimate queen. If Esther really was married to Xerxes as stated in the Book of Esther, she would have been a legitimate queen, not a concubine. Thus, the final word comes from biblical scholars, who say that the Book of Esther was a second-century-BCE Jewish novel. The author did not intend Queen Esther to have had children.
Answer:
It is true that the book of Esther does not record her having had any children but we might assume that she did have children. After all King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) was besotten by Esther when he first set his eyes on her. Every King likes to leave seed, i.e. children who would take over the family name when he is gone; so it is not hard to imagine that Esther had children. According to Ohr Somayach:
"While we do not know a lot about what happened to Esther, one thing that we do know is that she had a son, Darius, who became King Darius II. She brought him up to be favorable to the Jews and he eventually lifted the ban against the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple), which led to the building of the Second Temple."
The Persians kept historical records, but some were lost over time. One has to imagine that either this was recorded (of Esther's son) or was not recorded at all.
I find the Bible to be an accurate piece of history. We should not doubt the Bible which is the written word of God.
Who killed Esthers mother and father?
Esther:2:5-7:
5: Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;
6: Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
7: And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.
The Bible does not say.
What happened to Queen Esther after she saved the Persian Jews?
no one knows. it isn't mentioned in the book of esther. the book ends after haman and his sons are hanged and mordecai gets their land and power. sorry
Who was Queen Esther married to?
Is there a famous quote by Queen Esther?
" peace is my main goal for my people"
" i may have lost my place in klal yisrael, but at least i saved my people"
"be friendly to each other and do not fight"
The Book of Esther says that Esther was the cousin and adopted daughter of Mordecai from the tribe of Benjamin. Hence, Esther would have been from the same tribe.
Esther 2
5 Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, 6 who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah. 7 Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This girl, who was also known as Esther, was lovely in form and features, and Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.
Who was Esther and why is she important?
Because she, according to tradition, saved the Jewish people from annihilation.
Esther was the heroine and central figure in the Biblical book of Esther. She was a beautiful Jewish woman, the wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). She and her cousin Mordecai persuaded the king to cancel an order for the extermination of the Jews in his wide realm, plotted by the king's chief minister, Haman. Instead, Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai, and the Jews were given permission to destroy their enemies. The Jewish festival of Purim celebrates this event. According to tradition, the book of Esther was written in the 4th century BCE.
Additional information: Esther was a Jewess, who lived during the Babylonian exile. When Queen Vashti refused to go to Ahasuerus (in Chapter 1), Memucan, a Persian wise man, advised King Ahasuerus to remove Vashti from being Queen of Persia, and King Ahasuerus agreed to his advice. In Esther Chapter 2, royal eunuchs advised Ahasuerus to look for a new queen, a virgin. Esther was the best looking one, and Ahasuerus picked her to replace Vashti. When Esther was orphaned, she was then adopted by her cousin Mordecai, who became her foster father.
Why did haman want to kill all the Jews?
Mordecai was the lone Jew in the king's gate. Mordecai job was to represent the Jews and translate the king's order for the Jewish community.
Mordecai said that he does not bow because he is Jewish.
Haman wanted to kill Mordecai and end the disobedience, but could not ask the king to kill Mordecai because the king did not make the order that the leaders at the king's gate must bow. Killing Mordecai would not solve Haman's problem because a new Jewish representative will take his place and will not bow.
So Haman decided to kill the whole nation of Mordecai and Mordecai himself, and then there will be no need for a new Jewish representative, who might not bow to him.
How long was Esther Queen of Persia?
There was no King Ahasuerus of Persia, but many Bible commentaries observe that Ahasuerus is likely the Hebraicised version of King Xerxes, the Achaemenid leader who ruled from 486 to 465 BCE.
Esther is unlikely to have been Xerxes'wife, because his only known wife, Amestris, continued in her role well beyond his third year as king (the date the text suggests Vashti was deposed). Other problems in the story call into question the story's reliability, for example Mordecai is identified as having been sent into exile by Nebuchadnezzar - an event that must have place over a century before Xerxes assumed power.
Who was Mordecai in the book of Esther?
Mordecai, one of the Jews exiled to Babylonia after the First Destruction, was the cousin of Queen Esther. He was one of the leading Jewish sages of the time. His deeds are recounted at length in the Book of Esther (and are too many to list here). By the end of the reign of King Ahaseurus, Mordecai had become viceroy to the King.
How do you say happy purim in Hebrew?
You can say Khag Purim Same'akh (×—×’ ×¤×•×¨×™× ×©×ž×—) but it's more common just to say Khag Sameakh, which means happy holiday.
What is the name of Her book that is read during Jewish holiday Purim?
The book that is read on the Jewish holiday of Purim is called Megillat Esther (the Book of Esther) which tells the story of Jewish salvation during the time of King Achashverosh (Ahasuerus), ruler of the Persian-Median Empire approximately during the 4th century BCE.
Do all branches of Jews celebrate Purim?
All Jews who aren't completely assimilated. So rather just ask how many Jews are there.
Purim, like the Passover Seder, Yom Kippur, circumcision, bar mitzvah and certain other things, is one of those parts of Judaism observed by all Jews who are even minimally aware of their heritage.
During Purim what are Jewish people allowed to drink?
Jews can drink anything but adults are expected to drink alcohol to the point they become mildly drunk.
One can read The scroll of Esther (especially in Hebrew) and can find very strong symbolism in its writing, for instance:
Esther the name is quite interesting;
there was a Zarathustra (the ancient religion in Persia) goddess named Ishtar.
(there was also a Zarathustra god name Murdoch which resemble Mordecai).
Esther can also be read as "hide" in Hebrew - which is set with the role of god in the events of the scroll (a hidden intervention in history).
The scroll of Esther is special in that: it doesn't discusses god.
To conclude in Jewish studying of the bible the tradition is that you read the text many times and can find new meanings in it, you start however, in reading it "pshat" - simplified - and only then you can research it more. The scroll is to be read as a regular story.
What exhortation did Mordecai send through Hathach to Esther in chapter 4 verses 13-14?
He told her that she should not imagine that she would survive if all the Jews perished.
Did Haman try to kill Esther when she exposed him?
Haman had no time nor say to do anything to Esther, for once he was exposed as the one that wanted to kill Esther along with all the Jews, Achashveirosh (the king married to Esther) had Haman doomed to death.
Why do we give matanot l'evyonim?
Giving matanot l'evyonim comes from Esther 9:20-22
"And Mordecai inscribed these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, to enjoin them to make the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and the fifteenth day thereof, every year, as the days when the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month that was reversed for them from grief to joy and from mourning to a festive day-to make them days of feasting and joy, and sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor."
Why were 75000 Persians killed by Esther and Mordecai?
In its Introduction to the Book of Esther, the New American Bible describes the book as "vindictive". That description is probably the best explanation, as the book itself appears to be a work of fiction and there is no extra-biblical evidence that there ever was a Queen Esther or that the Persians were killed.
What did Queen Esther look like?
Scholars say that the Book of Esther appears to be a work of fiction, and that there is no evidence that Xerxes was ever married to Esther. They also say that Esther is unlikely to have been a real person. If she did exist, Esther would have been Semitic and therefore dark complexioned, much like modern Arabs and Sephardic Jews.
