1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. 2 And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine: 'Whatever thy petition, queen Esther, it shall be granted thee; and whatever thy request, even to the half of the kingdom, it shall be performed.' 3 Then Esther the queen answered and said: 'If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request; 4 for we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my peace, for the adversary is not worthy that the king be endamaged.' {S} 5 Then spoke the king Ahasuerus and said unto Esther the queen: 'Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?' 6 And Esther said: 'An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman.' Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. 7 And the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman remained to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. 8Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the couch whereon Esther was. Then said the king: 'Will he even force the queen before me in the house?' As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. 9 Then said Harbonah, one of the chamberlains that were before the king: 'Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman hath made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman.' And the king said: 'Hang him thereon.' 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath assuaged. {S}

1 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. 2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. {S} 3 And Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. 4 Then the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre. So Esther arose, and stood before the king. 5 And she said: 'If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that are in all the king's provinces; 6 for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?' {S} 7 Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew: 'Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. 8 Write ye also concerning the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring; for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.' 9 Then were the king's scribes called at that time, in the third month, which is the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, even to the satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, a hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language. 10 And they wrote in the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, riding on swift steeds that were used in the king's service, bred of the stud; 11 that the king had granted the Jews that were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, and to slay, and to cause to perish, all the forces of the people and province that would assault them, their little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey, 12 upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. 13 The copy of the writing, to be given out for a decree in every province, was to be published unto all the peoples, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14 So the posts that rode upon swift steeds that were used in the king's service went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment; and the decree was given out in Shushan the castle. {S} 15 And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad. 16 The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honour. 17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. And many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen upon them.

1 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have rule over them; whereas it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them; 2 the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt; and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them was fallen upon all the peoples. 3 And all the princes of the provinces, and the satraps, and the governors, and they that did the king's business, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai was fallen upon them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went forth throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai waxed greater and greater. 5 And the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they would unto them that hated them. 6 And in Shushan the castle the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men. {S} 7 And {S} Parshandatha, and {S} Dalphon, and{S} Aspatha, 8 and {S} Poratha, and {S} Adalia, and {S} Aridatha, 9 and {S} Parmashta, and {S} Arisai, and {S} Aridai, and {S} Vaizatha, {S} 10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews' enemy, slew they; but on the spoil they laid not their hand. 11 On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the castle was brought before the king. 12 And the king said unto Esther the queen: 'The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the castle, and the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! Now whatever thy petition, it shall be granted thee; and whatever thy request further, it shall be done.' 13 Then said Esther: 'If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews that are in Shushan to do to-morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.' 14 And the king commanded it so to be done; and a decree was given out in Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons. 15 And the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men in Shushan; but on the spoil they laid not their hand. 16 And the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of them that hated them seventy and five thousand--but on the spoil they laid not their hand-- 17 on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 18 But the Jews that were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 19 Therefore do the Jews of the villages, that dwell in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another. 20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, 21 to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, 22 the days wherein the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. 23 And the Jews took upon them to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them; 24 because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast pur, that is, the lot, to discomfit them, and to destroy them; 25 but when she came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head; and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26Wherefore they called these days Purim, after the name of pur. Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come unto them, 27 the Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to the writing thereof, and according to the appointed time thereof, every year; 28and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed. {S} 29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote down all the acts of power, to confirm this second letter of Purim. 30 And he sent letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, 31 to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had ordained for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry. 32 And the commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book. {S}

1 And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea. 2 And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, how the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren; seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his seed. {P}

1 After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was assuaged, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her. 2 Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him: 'Let there be sought for the king young virgins fair to look on; 3 and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the castle, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hegai the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their ointments be given them; 4 and let the maiden that pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti.' And the thing pleased the king; and he did so. {S} 5 There was a certain Jew in Shushan the castle, 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 captives that 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 maiden was of beautiful form and fair to look on; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter. 8 So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree was published, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the castle, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken into the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women. 9 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her ointments, with her portions, and the seven maidens, who were meet to be given her out of the king's house; and he advanced her and her maidens to the best place in the house of the women. 10 Esther had not made known her people nor her kindred; for Mordecai had charged her that she should not tell it. 11 And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what would become of her. 12 Now when the turn of every maiden was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that it had been done to her according to the law for the women, twelve months--for so were the days of their anointing accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six month with sweet odours, and with other ointments of the women-- 13 when then the maiden came unto the king, whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house. 14 In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, who kept the concubines; she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and she were called by name. 15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her. 16 So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. 17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the bounty of the king. 19 And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, and Mordecai sat in the king's gate-- 20 Esther had not yet made known her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her; for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him-- {S} 21 in those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those that kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. 22 And the thing became known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther told the king thereof in Mordecai's name. 23 And when inquisition was made of the matter, and it was found to be so, they were both hanged on a tree; and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king. {S}

By Rabbi Pinchas Peli

For one Hasidic master, Shabbat is not the weekend, but the sacred center of the week, which illuminates the days before and after.

Rabbi Zvi Elimelekh of Dinow (1783-1841), a student of the famous “Seer of Lublin” and a prolific author, presents a view of Shabbat in his book B’nai Yissacharthat draws on a body of Hasidic teachings that by his time was already broad and widely disseminated. Those teachings draw extensively on Kabbalistic sources for their concepts and language. Excerpted with permission from “Sabbath: A Hassidic Dimension,” in Perspectives on Jews and Judaism: Essays in Honor of Wolfe Kelman, ed. Arthur A. Chiel, pp. 335-353 ©Rabbinical Assembly, 1978.

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Shabbat Lights Up Our Week

In [B’nai Yissachar], [Rabbi Zvi Elimelekh] tries to show how every day of the year could be illuminated by the light shining from the various sanctuaries of time that dot the Jewish calendar. At the top of all the high points in time stands the holy Sabbath — the queen of all times.

The basic unit of time is the seven-day week. The Sabbath, according to the Zohar — which is perhaps the main foundation of Hasidic thinking — does not stand at the “weekend” nor even as the “week head” — but rather at the center of the week, like the central stem of a seven-branch menorah, with the three weekdays Wednesday-Thursday-Friday on its right, and the three days Sunday-Monday-Tuesday on its left [following the Hebrew order right-to-left], all drawing their sustenance from the center of the week, from Sabbath. The first version of the Ten Commandments reads: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy;” the second version reads: “Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” In the first half of the week, on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, we remember the Sabbath that has gone by, and on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we observe, look out, and wait for the Sabbath that is to come. It is only through Sabbath that we can survive the week looming between the Two Sabbaths.

The often-quoted saying of the Zohar in Hasidic literature, that Shabbat is one of the Names of God, plays a central role in his thinking. One does not use God’s Name easily, “and I know of those who are meticulous in their behavior, that they are very careful not to utter the wordsShabbatneedlessly. And it is correct to do so.” Just as there are unclean places where one is not allowed to read from the Torah, so one is not permitted to pronounce the wordShabbatin those places.

A Day for Harmony , the Summit of Life

By the same token, Sabbath represents perfectness. In Jewish mysticism the world is seen as broken and fragmented. It is “in exile” in no less than three dimensions: in space, time, and soul. The human soul is split, and parts of it are destined to bitter exile except on Sabbath, when the exiled splinters of the human personality can be gathered together in peace.

There is also a terrible chasm separating man from woman, a rift which threatens the peaceful, fulfilled existence of human beings from the first moment following the creation of Eve, when Adam asserted in great shock: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” Looking at Eve, Adam saw himself split in two asetzem{“bone”) and asbasar(“flesh”), interpreted in mystical allegory as representing the two dimensions of severity and grace between which a person is suspended constantly in tension.

It is only on the Sabbath that the two can harmonize, and one can find peace of mind and soul. This idea, which is derived, as Rabbi Zvi Elimelekh proves, from the concept of Sabbath as a day of harmony and perfection, is, of course, inherent in the numerical value of [the Hebrew letter of the wordShabbat:]sh-b-t— a perfect combination ofetzem([the sum of whose letters’ numerical value is] 200) plusbasar([similarly] 502), which together equals Sabbath’s numerical value (702).

Following now the central idea of Hassidism, that ofd’vekut, or cleaving to God, Sabbath becomes the aim of life, allowing Rabbi Zvi Elimelech to offer a daring comment on the verbk-d-sh(“to make holy”), which is applied to the Sabbath both as an act of God (Genesis 2:3) and a commandment to humanity (Exodus 20:8). In the spirit of the erotic symbolism of the Kabbalah, he interpretsk-d-shin the sense ofkiddushin, “consecration through marriage.” God blessed the seventh day, He endowed it with grace, with light and harmony, and consecrated it; it can be said in a sense that He married the seventh day as a mate. Human beings, on the other hand, are commanded to remember or keep the seventh day — to consecrate the day as in marriage, to develop an intimate relationship with it, “as man and woman do.”

Shabbat Is (Like?) Intimate Union

Rabbi Zvi Elimelech bases this interpretation not only on his enormous overwhelming feeling of love for the Sabbath, but also on the Midrash that tells how Sabbath came in front of God to complain: “To every day of the week you gave a partner. Sunday goes with Monday, Tuesday with Wednesday, Thursday with Friday, and only I am left without a mate.” And God, blessed be He, replied: “The community of Israel will be your mate” (Genesis Rabba 11:9). What to the rabbis of the Midrash was a metaphor of speech is reality for Rabbi Zvi Elimelech. Sabbath is celebrated in Kabbalah as the day of the holy communion between the masculine and femininesephirot; it is also the day when husband and wife are commanded to be joined sexually.

Hassidism attempted to bring God into this world, and claimed that not only the heavens but also the earth is the Lord’s. Rabbi Zvi Elimelech, as one of the great exponents of Hassidism, has therefore much to say about the divine meaning that can be instilled in seemingly earthly activities, such as eating or cohabiting. The celebration of Sabbath through bodily delight is the best example of the possibilities by which humanity can express its worship of God through earthly and this-worldly things.

Rabbi Zvi Elimelech deals at length with the various aspects of delight expressed in the joy of Sabbath and reflected in its liturgy. A delight can no longer be felt if it constantly continues on the same level. The delight of Sabbath increases from one step to the next. The process is expressed in the Sabbath liturgy, which changes from one service to the other, from Friday night, which represents the act of consecration in marriage, to Sabbath morning, when the lover showers gifts upon his beloved, culminating in the Sabbath afternoon service, the moment of intimate union of the lovers.

He [Rabbi Elimelekh] continues to emphasize that the delight enjoyed on Sabbath is not to be mistaken as an indulgence in worldly pleasures. The Rabbis word their sayings carefully: “who delights in the Sabbath” [in the words of the Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 118a], not in self-delight. The purpose of the day is to partake in the delight that is part of the essence of the Sabbath, a transcendental being coming to this world to be welcomed with spiritual yearning as well as with material rejoicing.

Sabbath comes once a week, as part of a cosmic happening. It is not up to us — as with holidays — to pronounce its coming or to fix it on another day. But it remains our responsibility to bring a glimpse of Sabbath into our day-to-day life. Hassidism stresses the importance ofhitbodedut(“self-isolation”) and advises every person to set aside some time during the day to be with himself. “A person who does not have at least one hour a day to be secluded with himself is no person at all” is a widely accepted Hasidic maxim.

In this spirit, Rabbi Zvi Elimelekh demands that “every person — businessman or craftsman — set aside one hour a day in which he draws from the sanctity of Sabbath.” In this way the flight of time can be held and given eternal meaning. We can infuse the temporal world with eternity, and raise ourselves to the heights of Sabbath each day of the week.