THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME IV BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS
by
BY LOUIS GINZBERG
Part 7 out of 7
THE EDICT OF THE KING
The edict issued against the Jews was revoked by Ahasuerus in the
following terms:
"King Ahasuerus sends this letter to all the inhabitants of water
and earth, to all the rulers of districts, and to generals of the army,
who dwell in every country; may your peace be great! I write this
to you to inform you, that although I rule over many nations, over
the inhabitants of land and sea, yet I am not proud of my power,
but will rather walk in lowliness and meekness of spirit all my
days, in order to provide for you great peace. Unto all who dwell
under my dominion, unto all who seek to carry on business on land
or on sea, unto all who desire to export goods from one nation to
the other, from one people to the other unto them all, I am the
same, from one end of the earth to the other, and none may seek to
cause excitement on land or on sea, or enmities between one
nation and another, between one people and another. I write this,
because in spite of our sincerity and honesty with which we love
all the nations, revere all the rulers, and do good to all the
potentates, there are nevertheless people who were near to the
king, and into whose hand the government was entrusted, who by
their intrigues and falsehoods misled the king, and wrote letters
which are not right before heaven, which are evil before men, and
harmful for the empire. This was the petition they requested from
the king: that righteous men should be killed, and most innocent
blood be shed, of those who have not done any evil, nor were
guilty of death such righteous people as Esther, celebrated for all
virtues, and Mordecai, wise in every branch of wisdom, there is no
blemish to be found in them nor in their nation. I thought that I
was requested concerning another nation, and did not know it was
concerning the Jews, who were called the Children of the Lord of
All, who created heaven and earth, and who led them and their
fathers through great and mighty empires. And now as he, Haman,
the son of Hammedatha, from Judea, a descendant of Amalek, who
came to us and enjoyed much kindness, praise, and dignity from
us, whom we made great, and called 'father of the king,' and seated
him at the right of the king, did not know how to appreciate the
dignity, and how to conduct the affairs of state, but harbored
thoughts to kill the king and take away his kingdom, therefore we
ordered the son of Hammedatha to be hanged, and all that he
desired we have brought upon his head; and the Creator of heaven
and earth brought his machinations upon his head." (192)
As a memorial of the wonderful deliverance from the hands of
Haman, the Jews of Shushan celebrated the day their arch-enemy
had appointed for their extermination, and their example was
followed by the Jews of the other cities of the Persian empire, and
by those of other countries. Yet the sages, when besought by
Esther, refused at first to make it a festival for all times, lest the
hatred of the heathen be excited against the Jews. They yielded
only after Esther had pointed out to them that the events on which
the holiday was based, were perpetuated in the annals of the kings
of Persia and Media, and thus the outside world would not be able
to misinterpret the joy of the Jews.
Esther addressed another petition to the sages. She begged that the
book containing her history should be incorporated in the Holy
Scriptures. Because they shrank from adding anything to the triple
Canon, consisting of the Torah, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa,
they again refused, and again they had to yield to Esther's
argument. She quoted the words from Exodus, "Write this for a
memorial in a book," spoken by Moses to Joshua, after the battle
of Rephidim with the Amalekites. They saw that it was the will of
God to immortalize the warfare waged with the Amalekite Haman.
Nor is the Book of Esther an ordinary history. Without aid of the
holy spirit, it could not have been composed, and therefore its
canonization resolved upon "below" was endorsed "above." (193)
And as the Book of Esther became an integral and indestructible
part of the Holy Scriptures, so the Feast of Purim will be
celebrated forever, now and in the future world, and Esther herself
by her pious deeds acquired a good name both in this world and in
the world to come. (194)
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