ask the rabbi

Who Wrote the Book oF esther?

Rabbi Yoseph Y. Zaltzman

QI was wondering about who wrote the Megillah, the Book of Esther? It seems to say that Mordechai and Esther wrote it, but who decided to include it in the Bible?

You are correct. When we read the Megillah, toward the end (Chapter 9, verses 20 and 29) it does in fact state twice that Mordechai and Esther wrote the Book of Esther. The Talmud (Megillah 19a) and Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, the preeminent Biblical and Talmudic scholar) interpret this to mean that Mordechai and Esther wrote the Megillah together. However, when the Talmud (Bava Basra, 15a) lists the different books of the Tanach (the Bible) and who authored each one, the Book of Esther is attributed to the Men of the Great Assembly (Anshei Knesset HaGedolah), a group of 120 prophets and sages that led the Jewish people at the beginning of the Second Temple period, not long after the events described in the Megillah. So, especially given this seeming contradiction, your question is a good one: Who in fact is the actual author of the Megillah?

Among their many great responsibilities and feats, the Men of the Great Assembly were tasked with compiling and canonizing the Tanach as we know it today, with its twenty-four books. They had to choose from among the various prophetic writings that existed, which ones would be included in the final Tanach. According to the commentary of Rashi, “prophecy is not to be transcribed and included in the canon of Scripture outside of the Holy Land.” Therefore, the Book of Esther, like all the other books contained in the Tanach, had to be written in the Land of Israel.

It seems from this explanation that Mordechai and Esther wrote the Purim story shortly after the events occurred. With their sensitivity and Divine inspiration they were able to articulate the story in a way that revealed the hidden hand of G-d orchestrating the events that took place over the course of approximately nine years. But, because the manuscript was written outside of the Land of Israel, it lacked a certain holiness.

Perhaps this is why the name of G-d is not mentioned explicitly at all in the Megillah. Some say this is due to the fact that there was no explicit Divine intervention or overt miracles, but perhaps they also refrained from including G-d’s name because of the lack of holiness. Also, they know that the Persians and other non-Jewish cultures would incorporate the story into their own texts, and if the name of G-d was included they would substitute it with the names of their own deities, so they chose to leave it out. All of these explanations are fascinating in their own right, and interconnected with one another.

Because the original manuscript written by Mordechai and Esther lacked holiness, the Men of the Great Assembly had to rewrite it, with Divine inspiration in the Holy Land, so that it could be included as one of the 24 books of Scripture.

The Book of Esther is the only one where the name of G-d is not fount in the entire text. At the same time, it is clear when reading it that the events are being orchestrated from Above – a message that even in the darkest times, G-d is watching over us and orchestrating the salvation of the Jewish people. For this reason, the Book of Esther is precious to Jews in exile, and the sages tell us that when Moshiach comes the Book of Esther will continue to have a special significance, even more so than the other books of Scripture – because developing the ability to see the often hidden Divine providence in our lives is one of the things that will bring us to the times of Moshiach. EM

Rabbi Yoseph Y. Zaltzman is the Senior Rabbi of the Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario. You can Ask the Rabbi at jrcc.org or fax to 416.222.7812. To meet with Rabbi Zaltzman in person, feel free to call 416.222.7105 to book an appointment. Appointments are generally available on Wednesday evenings after 7pm.

Rebbitzin Chiena Zaltzman is also available for private consultations by appointment on Wednesday evenings from 9 to 10pm by calling 416.222.7105. Спрашивают, в чем разница между книга-ми ТаНаХа и книгами Торы? Что такое ТаНаХ? ТаНаХ состоит из 24-х книг: из них 5 книг Торы (Пятикнижия Моисеева), затем 8 книг Пророков и 11 книг святого Писания. Название «ТаНаХ» явля-ется аббревиатурой: Т – Тора, На – Невиим – Про-роки, Х – Ктувим – Писания. Книги Писаний включают в себя Книги Псалмов – Теилим, разные свитки – «Мегилат Эстер», «Мегилат Рут» и т.д. Все вместе составляет ТаНаХ. В настоящее время на все эти книги изданы комментарии мудрецов на русском и английском языках, объясняющие смысл текстов. Пятикнижие написано Моисеем. Остальные 19 книг были написаны примерно через полторы тыся-чи лет после того, как евреи вошли в Израиль. На-писание книг Пророков было закончено ко времени разрушения Первого Храма. Кем были написаны книги Пророков? Пророками. Пророки писали о том, что происходило? Они НЕ записывали то, что происходило, так же, как и Моисей не записывал то, что происхо-дило, - они писали то, что им раскрыл Вс-вышний. Хотя Моисей и записал Тору собственноручно, он писал только то, что раскрывал ему Вс-вышний. Рабби, расскажите, пожалуйста, о том, как Моисей писал Тору. Моисей писал текст Торы тушью по пергамен В течение какого срока он записывал Тору? Спустя 49 дней после исхода из Египта, Моисей был призван Вс-вышним на гору Синай, где по-лучил Скрижали Завета. Спустившись с горы, он за-писал Первую и начало Второй книги Торы, а затем на протяжении 40 лет странствования по пустыне до того момента, когда евреи вошли в Израиль, он записал все остальные книги. В последний день своей жизни он записал 8 предложений, заверша-ющих Тору, после чего его душа покинула этот мир.