The Book of Esther contains many universal themes. Its annual reading is incumbent upon the entire Jewish people.

משנה תורה - ספר זמנים - הלכות מגילה וחנוכה - א:א

קְרִיאַת הַמְּגִלָּה בִּזְמַנָּהּ, מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה מִדִּבְרֵי סוֹפְרִים; וְהַדְּבָרִים יְדוּעִים, שְׁהִיא תַּקָּנַת נְבִיאִים. וְהַכֹּל חַיָּבִים בִּקְרִיאָתָהּ--אֲנָשִׁים, וְנָשִׁים, וְגֵרִים, וַעֲבָדִים מְשֻׁחְרָרִים; וּמְחַנְּכִין אֶת הַקְּטַנִּים לִקְרוֹתָהּ. וְאַפִלּוּ כּוֹהֲנִים בַּעֲבוֹדָתָן, מְבַטְּלִין עֲבוֹדָתָן וּבָאִין לִשְׁמֹעַ מִקְרָא מְגִלָּה; וְכֵן מְבַטְּלִים תַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה לְמִקְרָא מְגִלָּה--קַל וְחֹמֶר לִשְׁאָר מִצְווֹת שֶׁלַּתּוֹרָה, כֻּלָּן נִדְחִין מִפְּנֵי מִקְרָא מְגִלָּה. וְאֵין לָךְ דָּבָר שֶׁנִּדְחֶה מִקְרָא מְגִלָּה מִפָּנָיו, חוּץ מִמֵּת שְׁאֵין לוֹ קוֹבְרִין: שֶׁהַפּוֹגֵעַ בּוֹ--קוֹבְרוֹ תְּחִלָּה, וְאַחַר כָּךְ קוֹרֶא.

Maimonides Code - Laws of Megilah and Chanukah 1:1

It is a positive mitzvah ordained by the Rabbis to read the Megillah at the appointed time. It is well-known that this was ordained by the Prophets. Everyone is obligated in this reading: men, women, converts, and freed slaves. Children should also be trained to read it. Even the priests should neglect their service in the Temple and come to hear the reading of the Megillah. Similarly, Torah study should be neglected to hear the reading of the Megillah. Surely, this applies to the other mitzvot of the Torah: the observance of all of them is superseded by the reading of the Megillah. There is nothing that takes priority over the reading of the Megillah except the burial of a corpse that has no one to take care of it. A person who encounters such a corpse should bury it and then read the Megillah.

Reading the Megilah takes precedence over any mitzvah, even service in the Temple or learning Torah must be put on hold. The one exception is the necessity of burying someone, respecting the basic dignity of all humanity. Judaism places the utmost value on human dignity.

Human dignity surfaces across the story of the Megilah. Throughout the narrative we see people treated as objects. The king requests to objectify Vashti before those attending his party. Esther is taken against her will to wait in the king’s harem. Haman proposes to rid the kingdom of all the Jews. These elements of the story are not accidental, but a consequence of the philosophy of Achashveirosh.

Victor Frankl - The Case for a Tragic Optimism

“That unconditional […] value of each and every person…is that which warrants the indelible quality of the dignity of man…[There is a] decisive difference between being valuable in the sense of dignity and being valuable in the sense of usefulness…Confounding the dignity of man with mere usefulness arises from a conceptual confusion that in turn may be traced back to the contemporary nihilism…Nihilism does not contend that there is nothing, but it states that everything is meaningless.” (p.176-177)

Victor Frankl discusses this objectification of human beings. It is a distortion to reduce human value to usefulness. It is Achashveirosh’s philosophy, his orientation towards the pursuit of pleasure, that creates an environment of nihilism. In such a kingdom, pleasure is the only ideal. Everything and everyone are expendable.

תלמוד בבלי – מגילה יג.

רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן קׇרְחָה אָמַר אֶסְתֵּר יְרַקְרוֹקֶת הָיְתָה וְחוּט שֶׁל חֶסֶד מָשׁוּךְ עָלֶיהָ

רש”י – אלא חוט של חסד משוך עליה – מאת הקב"ה לכך נראית יפה לאומות ולאחשורוש.

Talmud Bavli - Megilah 13a

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha said: Esther was greenish [in complexion]. And a thread of divine grace was placed upon her.

Rashi - from the Holy One Blessed be He she appeared beautiful to the nations and to Achashveirosh.

Rabbi Yehoshua comments that Esther had a green complexion. His objective was not to insult Esther’s beauty. But rather to highlight that her beauty was not conventional. She refused to participate in the distorted definition of beauty created by Achashveirosh.

מגילת אסתר ה:טו

טו( וּבְהַגִּ֣יעַ תֹּר־אֶסְתֵּ֣ר בַּת־אֲבִיחַ֣יִל דֹּ֣ד מָרְדֳּכַ֡י אֲשֶׁר֩ לָקַֽח־ל֨וֹ לְבַ֜ת לָב֣וֹא אֶל־הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ לֹ֤א בִקְשָׁה֙ דָּבָ֔ר כִּ֠י אִ֣ם אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֹאמַ֛ר הֵגַ֥י סְרִיס־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ שֹׁמֵ֣ר הַנָּשִׁ֑ים וַתְּהִ֤י אֶסְתֵּר֙ נֹשֵׂ֣את חֵ֔ן בְּעֵינֵ֖י כָּל־רֹאֶֽיהָ׃

Esther 5:15

15) Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail, Mordecai's uncle, who had taken her for a daughter, came to go in to the king, she requested nothing, except what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the guard of the women, would say, and Esther obtained grace in the eyes of all who beheld her.

When Esther was brought to the king she took nothing with her. She would not participate willingly in the talent portion or any other element of the beauty contest. Nonetheless, even in this superficial, instinctual, disgusting and disgraceful society, Esther’s found grace among all those she interacted with. She had a mysterious appeal.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik – Days of Deliverance

The Hebrew word hen, favor, refers to the attribute of charm, in contradistinction to beauty. While beauty is usually a result of combinations of several physical factors, of external features, charm comes from within. It flows from the deep recesses of the spiritual personality. Charm is engendered by the presence of God in the human being. It is the reflection of the Divine presence within man. One radiates charm, for the imago Dei is the source of charm. The symmetry of the body, the complexion, and the color of the eyes are all irrelevant to the charm-personality. What is important is the Divine in man. The two clauses, "The Lord was with Joseph" and "Joseph found favor in his [master's] sight," constitute an equation: Joseph found favor in Potiphar's sight because God was with him. The same is true of Esther. She found favor with everyone because God was with her. She fascinated, she had an impact upon all she met. There was something different and peculiar about her. She was unique. (p.65)

Esther is the paradigm of human dignity. She refused to be simply an object. She radiated uniqueness, intuitively perceived by those around her. Even Achashveirosh couldn’t help being taken by her grace and dignity. She was addressed by him as “Queen Esther”, he offered to grant her any request, up to half his kingdom. It was in this context that she stood up for her people and the basic humanity in all of us.

References

Frankl, V. E. (1995). Man's search for meaning. New York: Pocket Books.

Maimonides, M., Touger, E., Kaplan, B., Abramson, Z., & Silverstein, S. (2007). Mishneh Torah. New York: Moznaim Pub. Retrieved from: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/682956/jewish/Mishneh-Torah.htm

Rosenberg, A. (1980). A new English translation of the Hebrew Bible text and Rashi, with a commentary digest. New York: Judaica Press. Retrieved from: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/

Soloveitchik, J. D., Clark, E. D., Wolowelsky, J. B., & Ziegler, R. (2007). Days of deliverance: Essays on Purim and Hanukkah. New York: Published for the Toras HoRav Foundation by KTAV Pub. House.

Steinsaltz, A., In Weinreb, T. H., In Schreier, J., & Hotsaat (2015). Koren Talmud Bavli, the Noe edition. Koren. Retrieved from: https://shas.alhatorah.org/Full/Megillah/14a.1#e0n6

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