intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash.

Purim and the Mikdash Connection
Though the Beit Hamikdash is not mentioned directly in Megilat Esther, nevertheless, like a woven golden thread winding its way through a gorgeous variegated multi- patterned Persian carpet, its aura in the Gemara and Midrashim opalesces through- out the Purim story. The Midrash tells us that Belshazzar, the last ruler of the Babylonian Empire won a battle against Koresh (Cyrus), King of Persia and his father-in-law Darius, King of Media. His victory coincided with his calculations that the 70 years prophesied by Yermiyahu that Am Yisrael would remain under Babylonian rule had passed and therefore there was no longer a possibility of the Mikdash being restored (Megilah 11b). To celebrate, "he made a great feast to a thousand of his lords…" While drunk, he "commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out the Temple which was in Jerusalem… and the king and his lords and his consorts and his concubines drank in them… and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." Surrounded by his tipsy entourage, he saw a vision, the famous "writing on the wall". Called before the king to interpret the inscription, the sage Daniel elucidated, "M'nei M'nei, G-d has numbered your kingdom and brought it to an end.

T'keil, you are weighed in the balance and found wanting. Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians… In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain" (Daniel 5) and as the Greek historian Herodotus testifies, the Babylonians were carousing in the streets when Persian units entered the city.

Daniel, upon being called to minister to Koresh the new Persian king, directed his attention to the prophecies of Isaiah who called him Meshicho - His (the Lord's) anointed". Isaiah rhapsodized, "That saith of Koresh: He is my shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure; even saying of Jerusalem: 'She shall be built' and to the Temple: 'Your foundation shall be laid' (Yeshiyahu 44:28). Daniel urged Koresh to re-build the Beit Hamikdash and in response the king decreed, "All the kingdoms of the earth has the Lord G-d of Heaven given me; and he has charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem… Whosoever there is among you of all his people…let him go up" (II Divrei Hayamim 36:22,23). Many returned to Jerusalem and began to rebuild the Mikdash. "Now was Koresh the Mashiach? Rather it means that the Holy One Blessed be He said to the Mashiach 'I said (of Koresh), he shall build My house and gather My exiles' (Yeshiyahu 45:13) and he (only) said, 'Whosoever there is among you of all his people… let him go up'" (Megilah 11b). But when Achashveirosh was enthroned as king, he prohibited the Jews from continuing to build and thereby violated the promises of his predecessor Koresh. Like his erstwhile colleague Belshazzar, Achashveirosh made his own computations and concluded that that he could desecrate the Mikdash vessels with impunity. Here is where the Purim narration "officially" begins. "And when Achashveirosh sat on the throne of his kingdom… and when these days were fulfilled, the king made a feast for all the people that were present in Shushan HaBira… (Esther 1:2,5). "And they gave them to drink in vessels of gold, the vessels being diverse from each other… (Esther 1:7). Raba said, "A Heavenly Voice went forth and said to them, 'Your predecessors (Belshazzar and his entourage) met their end on account of vessels, and yet you (dare) use them?' (Megilah 11b).

Achashveirosh went so far as to don the vestments of the Kohein Gadol as did Vashti when she hosted parallel feasts for the women. When Queen Vashti refused to obey the king's command to appear before his besotted guests, he turned to the Sanhedrin whose members "knew the times" (Esther 1:13), i.e. they knew how to intercalate years and fix new moons…" But the Jewish sages wisely declined to judge the case, "From the time the Temple was destroyed... council has been taken from us and we do not know how to judge capital cases" (Megilah 12b). Vashti's death was not undeserved; she had convinced her husband not to allow the Mikdash to be rebuilt. "Would you rebuild the Temple that my ancestors destroyed?", she contemptuously asked. Later the king hung the seven councilors who had advocated Vashti's death; but actually their execution was their Divinely ordained punishment for also exhorting the king to stop work on the Mikdash.

Mordecai had saved Achashveirosh's life (Esther 2:23,24) and had to be rewarded. The king knew that Mordecai's one wish was to rebuild the Beit Hamikdash and for this reason the king promoted his "anti-Mikdash" arch-enemy Haman as a counterweight so he would have an excuse not to grant Morcecai's request.

When Mordecai was ordered to kowtow before the newly appointed vizier, he refused. "I am a descendent of Benjamin who was not yet born when his father… bowed… before Eisav. My ancestor never gave obeisance to flesh and blood. For this reason Benjamin received that part of Eretz Yisrael which was to contain the Holy of Holies of the Beit Hamikdash. That place towards where Israel… prostrated themselves before G-d was given to him who had never prostrated themselves before flesh and blood. There- fore I will not bow down…" While Haman was grand vizier, God miraculously increased his wealth, so that after his fall, Mordecai could use it for building the Mikdash. When Esther invited Achashveirosh and Haman to her banquet, the king asked her, "What is your request Queen Esther, even to half of the kingdom, it shall be given to you" (Esther 7:2). The Gemara comments, "'Half of the kingdom' but not the whole kingdom and not something that would divide the kingdom. What could that be? The building of the Temple" (Megila 15b). When the king made that precondition to Esther, he did not yet know that she was Jewish! The Maharsha points out that the word Chatzi (half) is related to Chatzitza, separation or possibly secession. He notes that in "the days of Achashveirosh" the "adversaries of Judah and Benjamin wrote letters of accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. ...they are building the rebellious and bad city …and if the city be finished, they will not pay tribute… Search… and you will find in the records that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces. Then the king sent (them back) a message …search has been made and it is found that this city has made insurrection …there have been mighty kings over Jerusalem who have ruled over all the country beyond the river. Make you a decree… (that) this city be not built… Then ceased the work of the House of G-d which is at Jerusalem (Ezra 4). Achashveirosh "who reigned from India even unto Ethiopia, over 127 provinces" could only brood over the threat that a reconstructed sanctuary of a small harried community living in a minor sub-province might pose to his rule. Even after Haman fell from favor and was hanged, the new grand vizier Mordecai, supported by Esther, was unable to reverse or circumvent the king's decree. Work on the Beit Hamikdash was only resumed after Achashveirosh's death "in the second year of Darius King of Persia" (Ezra 4:24). La-y'hudim Ha-y'ta Ora V'simcha… Kein Tihyeh Lanu!

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