The Daily Ma’amar of our Rebbe Rav Eliezer Berland shlit”a, courtesy of the “Hashem Hu HaElokim” leaflet:
“When each maiden’s turn arrived” – that all the maidens, before their entering the palace of Achashverosh, were full of terrible judgments and desires, outside of Queen Esther, that she was the secret of “the Rose of Yaakov” – the supernal rose, Malchut (Kingship) of Atzilut, that she merited to draw the loven (supernal whiteness) in the world.
“And on the third day” – that this was the first Seder night, then “Esther donned royalty” – these are the clothes and garments of Malchut of Atzilut. And then, when Achashverosh saw all her radiance and that the Divine Presence rested upon her, he fainted, and an angel came and returned his soul to him.
And then he saw how his scepter jumped 200 amot, but Achashverosh was a Litvak in his root, and said that he’s not impressed by miracles, and law is law, and “may justice pierce the mountain” [e.g. the law must be enforced without exceptions], and he immediately ordered his servants to hang Esther for having violated the king’s order and performed a deed which was unlawful [lo kadat].
For on Esther’s forehead, all 22 letters of the Aleph-Bet shined, and especially radiant were the letters Kaf, Dalet, Tav [the letters of kadat], whose numerical value is 424, the numerical value of Mashiach 358 ben 52 David 14 = 424.
And therefore, Achashverosh called his wise men – who knew the times, who knew how to intercalate years and set the months – for the hanging of Vashti. And what is the relevance of knowing how to intercalate years and to set months for hanging Vashti? Rather, we say at the end of the Agadah: “The one who becomes intoxicated with the holy vessels is killed through it at night,” and this describes the death of Belshatzar, who was killed on the first Seder night after drinking “Alfa Hamra” – which is a thousand jugs of wine, and of course by then Belshatzar was already drunk, and this is the reason that he did not control himself and went out of the palace, and when he wanted to return, he already could not return through the same entrance that he left through, and was forced to go around the palace to enter by way of the main gate of the palace, and there stood Cyrus and Darius, who were Belshatzar’s body guards. When Belshatzar appeared with crown and purple garments with golden threads and said “I am the king; allow me to enter,” Cyrus and Darius said to him that they could not allow him to enter, because King Belshatzar himself command them not to let any person enter, even if the king himself comes and says “I am the king” – there is no possibility of allowing him to enter!
And when they saw that Belshatzar was insisting in any case, they took the candelabra and struck his brain, and that night Darius reigned and afterwards his son-in-law Cyrus for five years in all, and afterwards Achashverosh for another two years and a day, which is altogether exactly eight years. The distance between the beginning of the reign of Darius and Cyrus and another two years and one day is counted as eight years, and in this way the first seventy years were filled, from the beginning of the reign of Darius. And he made a feast of 180 days and another seven days for the complete victory over the Jewish people.
And this is what Daniel checked every time that 70 years were filled — either from the beginning of the reign of Babylonia, or the beginning of the reign of Darius, Cyrus, and Achashverosh, that all these dates were dates of redemption.
And when he chose Queen Esther, on whose forehead all 22 letters shined, and saw the Divine Presence rest upon her, he fainted, and an angel came and returned his soul. However, because she passed the House of Images, already the letters of KaDaT did not shine – that they are the numerical value of Mashiach ben David. Because Esther was a direct descendent from the House of David, and all the time from the moment that she was taken to the house of Achashverosh – the house of Hegai the guardian of the women, the letters of Kadat – which are the numerical value of Mashiach ben David – shined in her in particular, and the moment that the light from the letters of “kadad” departed, Esther was in grave danger, because the Divine Presence departed from her, and when Achashverosh saw that the light of the letters of “kadat” departed, he understood now that the Divine Presence had abandoned her and that now it was a “time of favor” to eliminate her and get rid of her. And then Queen Esther screamed “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me; why so far from saving me, from the words of my roar?” And then a miracle happened and the letters shined anew. And precisely then, when the light departed from the letters, Achashverosh gave the order to kill her and hang her with the four groups of guards who stood in watch day and night at the Gate of the Halls.
For it is brought in Likutey Shimoni: That there were seven chambers – each chamber 50 amah by 50 amah, and Esther succeeded in passing through three gates without checks, and now she is already standing at the entrance to the fourth hall, and still no one checks her nor her belongings; perhaps she brought a knife and concealed it in her shoes. Or perhaps she had poison in her purse to pour into the cup of wine which she would pour for her husband. Because specifically the wife of the king is the most dangerous, because specifically she wants to make someone else king. And in this case, this would have to be Haman HaRasha, who was to rule in place of Achashverosh, and at the time of the feast, when a person is totally overcome with wine, this is a golden opportunity to get rid of him.
Achashverosh knew all of this, and therefore “that night, the king’s sleep was disturbed” by nightmares about what Esther was conspiring against him in inviting Haman to the feast… And at that moment, everything came together for him, and he wanted to do to Esther and her escorts as he did to Vashti. However, Hashem nullified his counsel and foiled his plans.
And the scepter jumped 200 amah, corresponding to the number of hall which Queen Esther still had not passed through. And Achashverosh, who did not pay heed also to this miracle – an angel came and slapped him on his mouth, and said to him: This poor thing stands at the entrance to request [the life of] her people and her kindred, and you make taverns and want to take her out to execution?!
And then Achashverosh received the necessary terror and said: “What is it for you Queen Esther? [Even if it be] until half the kingdom, it shall be fulfilled,” and he gave permission to kill all the enemies of Israel including Haman and his ten sons, and the remainder kneeled before Mordechai and requested forgiveness.
To download the original Hebrew, click here
