ESTHER - Money and the Megillah

One of the interesting questions asked about the Megillah is its constant focus on money. The beginning of the Megillah describes the opulence of the king’s palace and treasures; the Megillah ends with the king placing a tax upon all the provinces of the land, an unusual ending that appears, at first glance, to be completely irrelevant to the story. In the middle, we are witness to the buying of the Jewish people for ten thousand talents of silver, the plaintive cry of Esther that the Jewish people have been sold, and the almost prideful statement that the Jewish people did not lay their hands upon the spoils o their defeated enemies.

I came across an interesting suggestion in Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg’s book Esther Ruth Jonah: Deciphered. He first identifies Achashverosh (as do many scholars) as Xerxes II (486 BCE – 461 BCE). History teaches that Xerxes, first set out against Egypt for two years – upon his return home in his third year, he spent extensive and elaborate consultations with all the constituent representatives of the Persian Empire before setting out for war against Greece in 481 BCE, only to be defeated at Salamis and Plataea in 479 BCE. This timeline corresponds perfectly with the opening of the Megillah. Esther, however is chosen as queen in the seventh year, after the humiliating defeats against the Greeks. Now, as he faces a bankrupt treasury and restless natives (the assassination attempt), Xerxes looks for new sources of revenue. Enters Haman with the idea that that year’s tax sources should come from the Jewish people, who are scattered across the Empire and would not involve subduing. Rosenfeld ingeniously suggests that instead of offering the king the 10 000 talents of silver up front, Haman is stating that if he is allowed to be the tax collector, he will provide that amount from the Jewish people. Achashverosh’s response is “the money is given to you”- as was common practice in those times, any excess taxes belongs to the tax collector personally. Rosenfeld suggests that Achashverosh (Xerxes) allowed Haman the right to put people to death (note that otherwise, the right of capital punishment belongs to the king alone – as Haman must approach the king for permission to hang Mordechai) if they fail to provide Haman with the necessary funds. Essentially, Achashverosh accepts Haman's idea that the Jews would provide the revenue for his continued campaigns, but was unaware of the intent to annihilate the Jewish people. The Malbim has already pointed out that Haman sent out two separate directives – the first being the official order of the king; and the second a private missive to the governers only commanding the Jews extermination, which, following Rosenfeld’s lead, we can hypothesize meant kill and confiscate their property. This also explains the Jews failure to flee Persia despite haveing 11 months to do so.

With this approach, we can understand both Esther’s cry to Achashverosh, whereupon she pleads that the penalty under Persian law for failure to comply with one’s tax burden was slavery, not death, and he realizes that the Jews also have powerful allies at the court. We also understand Achashverosh’s unwillingness to rescind the decree that he had issued, as he would have lost a year’s supply of revenue. Only the reassurance that any property acquired by the Jewish people in self-defense would be turned over in its entirety to the Persian authorities would mollify his ravenous desire. The Megillah ending, that the tax burden was to be shared equally among the people, provides a satisfying and fitting conclusion to our story.

[Thanks to R. Chayim Klein for introducing me to this book.]