ong ago, in a far away land there lived a king and his queen. The king was rich and powerful and his queen was beautiful and strong-minded. (are you guessing where this is going?) I will go on just a little more…the king decided to have a big feast to celebrate his new kingdom… after all… ruling over 127 countries cannot be taken lightly…this king was young and a little full of himself, and for 180 days he was doing nothing but celebrating his greatness and wealth. One evening he has decided to ask one of his servants to bring his queen to him wearing nothing but her crown (I think it was the wine talking) he wanted to show off not only his wealth but also his beautiful and rare possession. Well...guess what, he didn’t expect it either… she refused…wouldn’t you?
The king was mad, he was so furious, his strength and pride were shattered into tiny pieces; It was him standing bare in front of his friends instead of his queen, exposed to an entire nation of 127 countries. Of course he banished her from the palace, what else could he do.
It didn’t take him long to find a new wife, after all - he was king. The new queen was very different from his previous queen, not as strong-minded but very brave indeed. She also carried a secret she did not tell her king.
If you ever relocated, you should know that moving to a new home is not an easy thing to do, even more so when your new home is a bit over-sized - like a palace, and you are all alone not knowing another soul. Fortunately, her uncle who raised her was the sensitive type; he kept on visiting her making sure she is OK. He was soon nominated to be one of the kings advisers. As one, he had the privilege of hanging out with the rest of the kings advisers at the city gate, which was THE place to hang out.
One day, he overheard two of the kings advisers plot to kill the king. Being a loyal and honest as he was, he immediately told the queen his niece who told the king who wrote it in his diary. The two were not banished but hung… OUCH
We could have ended the story right here, but, like every good story the plot must get a little more complicated before the happy ending. Therefore it is time to introduce the really bad guy to the story. He was the kings new right hand, the head of all of the kings advisers, a very powerful man indeed. Being in such position the head adviser has now decided that all the other advisers must kneel when ever he passes by them. I imagine he was always the shortest boy in class and this was his opportunity to feel the tallest. Every one did except for…you guessed it… the queens uncle. He didn’t blame it on his bad knees, but proudly stated it was against his religion (which it actually was).
The head of the advisers was mad, he felt shorter than ever. There was nothing in his powers to make this new adviser obey him but….take actions against his religion.
the next morning he went to the king and convinced him that the Jewish people where different than all the others, they didn’t obey the kings laws but only obey their gods. Therefore they must all be killed. And just so that the king doesn’t even hesitate, he added the extra value of all the money and goods the king could gain by confiscate their properties and wealth.
The king commended all his people to destroy all the Jewish people in his kingdom on the 13th day of the month of Adar (which is next week)
Well, you already know this did not happen, other wise I wouldn’t be typing up this story in such a late time at night instead of having my beauty sleep. Well, I guess the king himself had his own problems of falling asleep, could that be his conscience???
He was tossing and turning in bed. And since there was no TV to help him fall asleep, he asked his servant to bring to him his diary. Reading his diary he remembered the story of the queens uncle who saved his life. Suddenly he realized that he didn’t repay the guy who saved his life. Not being able to sleep he started to ask around his adviser closest to him (that was still awake) what to do with the man who is favored by the king. Suddenly he heard some noise in the garden. He looked out and saw his right hand working out side in the yard in the middle of the night, another one with sleeping problems…. His chief advisor was preparing a rope on the tree so he could punish the queens uncle for disobeying him. The king was happy to find his chief advisor and ask him that same question, what to do with the man who is favored by the king? The chief advisor thought the king was referring to him as the one he wanted to repay. Overjoyed he suggested the king to dress that person in the kings cloth, and have him ride on the kings horse through the streets and call out loud
“this is how the king repays the ones he favors.”
The king loved his idea, and commended him to do just that to the queens uncle who saved his life.
I don’t think Hamman could have felt any shorter than that.
While all this was happening the queen was trying to invite Achashverosh the king and Hamman to a feast. She poured much wine into their glasses. It was only on the second night that she was courageous enough to ask the king her question.
Finally, unveiling her true identity Ester has asked the king to have mercy on her people whom he has ordered to kill. The king surprised at the news has asked Ester who was the dreadful man who commended to kill her people. Without hesitation she pointed at Hamman who was sitting right beside the king. I can see how his chin dropped, can you?
Achashverosh was furious and drunk (again) he saw the tree the Hamman prepared for Mordechai and decided to hang no other than Hamman himself but not so quickly…first he had to walk Mordechai throughout the streets of Shushan sitting on the kings horse dressed in royal clothing and call out:
“this is how the king repays the ones he favors.” Hamman was hung, Mordechai was nominated to be the chief advisor (what used to be Hamman’s job), and Ester was given her own ‘little’ house within the palace court. The kings orders to kill the Jewish people could not be changed, but the king allowed Mordechai to issue new orders that allowed the Jewish people to defend themselves and kill anyone who threatens their lives. And the city of Shushan was delighted and joyous.
