In Defense of Queen Vashti

By Rabbi Gabriel Lumbroso

Every year at this time, we read the book of Esther. As with any good story, it contains heroes, villains, romance, suspense, and an “all is well that ends well" conclusion. In all honesty, every year I cringe some as I go over the beginning of the story and even listen to comments made about it. I may also feel uncomfortable with the fact that children are present when we speak of the king’s indecent request from his queen.

Whereas the story as it is written in the Tanach is correct in its own rights, we may need outside help dispel some of the assumptions surrounding it, especially those concerning Queen Vashti.

The story starts with a pagan king asking his wife to display herself to his drunk friends as they revel in a pagan feast. Preserving her honor, modesty, and dignity, Queen Vashti refuses and loses her place as queen to be replaced by Esther.

This raises a lot of questions.

I would dare to claim that all women would stand with Vashti and her right not to be displayed like some kind of 4-H heifer to be admired and evaluated by livestock owners. I would also claim that all women would or should be disgusted at the king's request, her husband.

Why is she then often looked at the “bad" wife in the story? And why would a man, and most especially a king, ask his wife and queen to do such a thing that would be reprehensible even in that society? By making Vashti one of the “villains” in the story, don’t we side with the indecent lewd actions of a pagan king while reviling a woman trying to preserve her virtue, even at a very high personal cost?

Looking at some of the midrashic texts concerning this story may help us make better sense of it. We must first look at who was Vashti. Midrashic texts from Esther Rabbah shed some light at her identity, which then may explain a lot of things. Remember that regarding prophecy and certain Bible stories, we cannot fully, properly understand them unless we get the context.

WHO WAS QUEEN VASHTI?

Do you remember in Daniel 5 when Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, hosted a pagan feast in his palace? Maybe they ran out of dishes, but for whatever reason, they decided to use the utensils that were looted from the Jewish Temple as dishes for their impious feast. This is when the king couldn't read the writing of a hand that appeared and wrote on the wall, so he had to call Daniel to interpret it for him.

Midrashic history books tell us a little more of what happened that night. The midrash

recounts that Darius the Mede was a guest that night. It also says that the heavy gold Temple candelabrum fell and dashed Belshazzar's brain, thus knocking some sense into him. Belshazzar being dead, Darius was crowned king in his stead, and he sat in Belshazzar’s customary place. The death of Belshazzar created total pandemonium in the palace. Some killed, others engaged in looting.

Vashti, Belshazzar's daughter, was a young girl at the time. In the tumult, thinking her father was still alive and mistaking him for King Darius, she accidentally sat in his lap. King Darius took pity on her and married her to his son, Ahasuerus.

WHO WAS AHASUERUS?

According to midrashic tradition, whereas Vashti was royal blood, Ahasuerus was not. Ahasuerus was actually Vashti’s father's steward who took care of the royal stables. He acquired royal status by marrying Vashti (Esther Rabbah 3:14; BT Megillah 12b).

Opinions differ concerning Vashti in the in the midrash's written from Babylon and those written in Israel. In Babylon, Vashti was seen as the granddaughter of the evil emperor who burnt the temple and caused the exile of the people of Judea. As a result, they had nothing good to say about her, and as is naturally done to people with whom we have a beef, she was described in Babylonian midrashes as a licentious, immoral woman guilty of every sin in the book.

That is very questionable when we can see plainly in the story that she would rather save her honor and keep her modesty even at the cost of losing her crown. If she was so loose and licentious, why did she have a problem with the king’s request?

It is also claimed by the Babylonian rabbis that when Ahasuerus offered to rebuild the temple, she stood against the decision saying that he shouldn't undo the legacy of her grandfather by rebuilding what he had destroyed.

In contrast to the negative depiction of Vashti by the Babylonian rabbis, their counterparts in the land of Israel portrayed her in a positive manner. Vashti was a scion of a royal dynasty, and they say that by keeping to her modesty, even at the price of her crown, she deported herself with her propriety, honor, and nobility.

Here is how the story of the story of Ahasuerus’ impious feast is told in the midrashes from Israel. When Ahasuerus sent his ministers to bring Vashti, in an attempt to persuade him to withdraw his demand, she sent him messages to which she hoped he would be receptive.

“If they see me and think me beautiful, they will want me, and they will kill you. And if they see me and think me ugly, you will be disgraced because of me.” In a second message, she chided him, “You were my father’s steward, and you were accustomed to having naked harlots come before you. Now that you have become king, you have not

mended your degraded ways!” Finally, her third message pleaded, “You want me to come naked—even my father, when he judged litigants in a trial, would not judge them when they were naked” (Esther Rabbah 3:14).

Queen Vashti in this midrash is blessed with wisdom. She cleverly seeks different ways by which to persuade Ahasuerus to withdraw his request. First, she appeals to logic by setting forth all the possible scenarios that might result from his demand, all of which are to his disadvantage. Then she addresses his sense of honor and self-respect, demanding that he act as is fitting for a king. Finally, she appeals to his compassion and asks that he not insist upon her appearing naked before all his guests.

By means of her messengers, Vashti hints to her husband that he does not consider the consequences of his actions and reminds him that he wields the scepter only because of his marriage to her; accordingly, it is not appropriate that he order her to do something against her will.

In the midrash, the reader sees Ahasuerus, in contrast with Vashti, as a ruler who acts rashly and does not think even one single step ahead. The hints that his wife sends Ahasuerus merely bounce off the thick-headed king. Even in his palace, his behavior is inappropriate, and he continues to act in a disgraceful manner, like a steward. Like a man with an inferiority complex and things to prove because he married over his head, surrounded by his buddies whose’ first thought at the queen’s noble refusal was fearing losing their control over all women in the empire and sought to make a shameful example of her. The midrash also says that Memucan, the minister who suggested Vashti’s exile, had a personal agenda, for he hoped that his own daughter would be the one to marry the king.

In conclusion, we can see that the Israeli midrash portrays Vashti as a good woman who preserved her dignity, while king Ahasuerus is the one who did not behave like a king, showing respect to his wife and queen, but acted no better than a depraved, drunken stable boy who was accustomed to using women of low honor for his own gratification.

In the midrashic depiction, when Ahasuerus grew sober, he regretted what he had done. He later recalled Vashti and her noble behavior, and he also remembered how he had improperly condemned her (Esther Rabbah 5:2).

Another tradition has Ahasuerus wanting and asking his wife when the effects of his intoxication wore off, not remembering what had happened. He was told: “You killed her!” He asked: “Why?” They replied: “You said for her to come before you naked and she did not come.” He admitted to them: “I did not act nicely. And who counseled me to kill her?” They told him: “The seven ministers of Persia and Media.” He immediately killed them. Consequently, the seven eunuchs are not mentioned again in the book of

Esther (Midrash Abba Gurion [ed. Buber], version B, beginning of chapter 2).

We do read that the king ceased to call upon Esther, who had previously found great favor with him. Could it be that he regretted his lewd actions and was plagued with guilt? Either way, Queen Vashti’s choices paved the way for a Jewish queen to arise and save her people, with the help of a king who perhaps had been humbled and learned to honor and listen to his wife.