Q&A: Regarding “the King” in the Megillah
Regarding “the King” in the Megillah
Question
Is it really true that every time the Megillah says “the king” without adding Ahasuerus, it also means the Holy One, blessed be He? So when I was reading the Megillah I tried to pay attention to when only “the king” appears, and I discovered a few surprising things. But the verses below were the hardest for me:
“On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he said to Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who ministered in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king wearing the royal crown, to display her beauty to the peoples and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold.
But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs, and the king became very angry, and his wrath burned within him.”
Answer
What is difficult about it? You can always explain that it refers to the Holy One, blessed be He. In the sefirah of kingship, which is the seventh, the queen (= the Shekhinah) was brought before the King. And when the Shekhinah refuses to come (when Israel sins), the King becomes angry.
Discussion on Answer
That dispute is in the first chapter of tractate Megillah.
I didn’t understand the question. This is a metaphorical description, like any description of the Holy One, blessed be He. Beyond that, when they say that every “king” is also the King of the universe, they don’t necessarily mean that every detail is said about both of them. It may be that the verse generally also speaks about the King of the universe, but some of the details are true only of Ahasuerus.
If the above vort is correct, why did Rava need to say that “the sleep of the King of the universe was disturbed”? That would be obvious. (And all the more so according to those who disagree there and hold that it was Ahasuerus’s sleep that was disturbed.)