Megillat Esther, Yoni style

Chapter 1: It's Good to Be the King

Achashverosh wasn't born into royalty; he didn't become king because his father or some other relative was king before him. He became king on his own. Consider that for a moment. This is no small thing. To become a king on one's own means that you've got to be ambitious, wealthy, charismatic and bold; you must be all these things moreso than everyone else around you. You also have to be able to climb above everyone and everything in your path; it takes a clarity of direction and dedication that few people have. Again, no small thing.

But he did it. He rose from the lowest of stations (some say a stable-boy) to the ruler of an empire. The natural reaction of everyone around him - courtiers, advisors, subjects, etc.- would be to question his legitimacy to the throne. "Who is this guy, and why should I accept him as my king? What's he done? He rose to power quickly, he could just as quickly fall." So what can an Achashverosh do? How can he quiet those who question his position on the throne?

Marry royalty.

This is exactly what he does. He marries Vashti, a direct descendant of the great and terrible king Nevuchadnetzar. By marrying her, he immediately silenced all questions that would get in the way of his meteoric rise to power. But in doing so, he's trapped himself in a paradox.

On the one hand, as someone who did NOT inherit his throne, Achashverosh wanted to set himself apart from all the kings before him. He wanted everyone to appreciate him as king based on HIS accomplishments, not based on the long and storied past he replaced. But by marrying Vashti to legitimize his position, he's lined himself up, as it were, in the very same hereditary line of kings from which he was trying to distance himself. So what can he do now? What can he do to uniquely express himself now that he's another link in the chain?

A lot.

The first thing he does is transfer the seat of power. All the kings before him had ruled from Bavel. It's where the empire started, and it was where the dynasty had flourished. But Achashverosh needed to distance himself from that dynasty. So in a stunning move, he relocates the capital city from the Babylonian city of Bavel to the Persian city of Shushan.

The next thing he does is an even more brilliant move to consolidate his power. He declares a party in his honor. Not a long weekend or even a month-long celebration will do. For his inauguration bash, he has one hundred eighty days of revelry. Six full months for the whole empire to celebrate the majesty that is their king. And who picks up the tab for all this? He does. Sure, it's the taxpayers' own money, but they don't think that way. As far as the average citizen is concerned, the king himself is paying for everything. He will use their own money for half a year of drinking, singing, dancing, and debauchery...and they will love him for it.

As for the invitations to this shindig, he intentionally snubs the nobles and princes of the old regime in favor of the men of rank that he's appointed. The message is crystal clear: Achashverosh decides who is important in the world. He dictates rank, inherited titles are worthless.

Politically, Achashverosh has played this out perfectly. In the eyes of the nobility, he has shown that they live their lives of comfort and luxury thanks only to his whims. If he so desires, he can strip them of their precious rank and title. And as for the common man, he's the king that gave him the best party anyone can ever remember, so they love him. So he's done, right? He can just sit back and rest on his laurels at this point, right?

Wrong. He has one more master stroke left to play.

After six full months of rousing celebration, he issues a decree for another party. This time, it's just for the people of Shushan. His new capital is to be set apart from all other cities in the empire. Bavel is no longer relevant. Shushan stands alone because Achashverosh has deemed it so. And not only is the whole city invited, but each person is granted access to the palace itself for the entire week the party is to last. Nobles, princes, and governors alongside commoners, citizens, and the rabble - all are equal under the mighty rule of Achashverosh.

But then a small problem arises. Vashti wants a party of her own.

This is not good for Achashverosh's plans. If Vashti has her own party, then everyone will think that she and her husband are on equal ground, exactly what Achashverosh was trying to avoid. What can he do? He can play another brilliant political stroke, that's what he can do.

Vashti can have her party, but not in the palace. She is restricted to the queen's residence, and her guest list is restricted to women only. Not a very respectable situation for the granddaughter of an emperor, and certainly not what she had planned. Vashti is not pleased with this.

As the week-long celebration comes to an end, Achashverosh wants to finish it all off with one last show of power. One last way to distinguish himself from his wife's family's dynasty and show himself to be greater than they ever were. He sends for his wife. He doesn't ask her to join him. He sends for her. Like he would send for his chambermaid. And for what? To show off her beauty. The point is very clear: he wants everyone to know that she's a trophy wife, married for her looks and nothing more. Again, Vashti is not pleased. And she shows it with her answer.

She clearly and publicly refuses to obey the king.

All of Achashverosh's plans and schemes and maneuvers to consolidate and demonstrate his uncontested power have been dashed in one curt response from his wife. His entire delicate house of cards he'd been building had come crashing down around him. She has brought him down from his untouchable seat of power to one who is answerable to his wife.

Immediately, he summons his advisors (who were apparently always close at hand) to consult on the issue. He presents it something like this:

"The queen has disobeyed the king. What shall be done with her?"

If ever there was a loaded question, this is it. He clearly wants to quietly and quickly execute Vashti for disobedience and have the whole matter put behind him. And if he ruled alone, that's what would have happened. But since he genuinely wants to give off the impression of a fair and balanced ruler, he must consult with his advisors. And it's a good thing he did.

Memuchan, an advisor to the throne, sees things slightly differently. He understands that Achashverosh is a power-hungry king and he finds a solution that will not only put the matter behind them, but do it in a way that will make Achashverosh's power increase. His plan goes something like this:

"Vashti has disobeyed the king over the very small matter of appearing before him. If word of this gets out, women across the empire will begin to disobey their husbands. The reasoning being 'Vashti refused the king over a small matter, my husband is no king, so I can certainly refuse him as well.' Luckily, as it is now, only the people in the palace know of the circumstances that occurred. Instead of hushing it up, thereby allowing the truth to seep out to the far corners of the empire as all rumors do, the opposite should be done. Make it public knowledge that the queen has upset the king. Don't say what she did, just let everyone know that the king is angry with Vashti. And her punishment? Don't kill her like a petulant tyrant; banish her. Her punishment should be the stripping of her rank as queen and her banishment from the face of the king for all time. This way, not only will she NOT be a martyr to the case of women's rights, but the entire kingdom will know that the king has the controlling power, not Vashti. Let everyone know that king Achashverosh is the ruler of this realm, and no one else."

Achashverosh loves it. Not only does he send this message to every corner of the empire, but he repeals the standing order that all royal correspondence be in the king's language and sends it in every spoken and read language in the kingdom. This way, there is no room for confusion: Vashti may no longer appear before the king because she had incurred his anger (no mention is made of the fact that she didn't want to see him in the first place). As an addendum, the king adds that every man is the master in his own house. In those times it was a given, but every man reading it would appreciate seeing it in a royal edict and will love Achashverosh even more.

As the first chapter of the megilla closes, Achashverosh is the uncontested, unquestioned, all-powerful ruler of 127 provinces in the Persian empire, and everyone either loves him or fears him. Not a bad situation for a guy who started out as a stable boy.