## Rashi on Esther Chapter 6

###### Rashi on Esther 6:1:1
[Rashi on Esther 6:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashi%20on%20Esther/r/6:1:1)

**נָדְדָה שְׁנַת הַמֶּלֶךְ.** נֵס הָיָה. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים שָׂם אֶת לִבּוֹ עַל שֶׁזִּמְּנָה אֶסְתֵּר אֶת הָמָן שֶׁמָּא נָתְנָה עֵינֶיהָ בּוֹ וְיַהַרְגֵהוּ:

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
**The king’s sleep was disturbed.** It was a miracle.¹ And some [Rabbis] say that he took to heart that Esther had invited Haman; [thinking] perhaps she had set eyes upon him, and he [Haman] would assassinate him.²

footnotes:
¹ Otherwise, would Achashveirosh’s sleep be disturbed, particularly on this night, after having partied earlier in the day. Achashveirosh’s sleep was disturbed by a dream in which he saw Haman grabbing a sword to kill him. (Esther Rabbah 10:1)
² Maseches Megillah 15b.


###### Rashi on Esther 6:1:2
[Rashi on Esther 6:1:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashi%20on%20Esther/r/6:1:2)

**לְהָבִיא אֶת סֵפֶר הַזִּכְרֹנוֹת.** דֶּרֶךְ הַמְּלָכִים, כְּשֶׁשְּׁנָתָן נוֹדֶדֶת, אוֹמְרִים לִפְנֵיהֶם מְשָׁלִים וְשִׂיחוֹת עַד שֶׁשְּׁנָתָם חוֹזֶרֶת עֲלֵיהֶם. וְרַבּוֹתֵינוּ אָמְרוּ: מִתּוֹךְ שֶׁנָּתַן לִבּוֹ עַל הָמָן וְאֶסְתֵּר, אָמַר: "אִי אֶפְשָׁר שֶׁלֹּא יֵדַע אָדָם שֶׁהוּא אוֹהֲבִי עֲצָתָם, וִיגַלֶּה לִי". וְחָזַר וְאָמַר: "שֶׁמָּא עָשָׂה לִי אָדָם טוֹבָה וְלֹא גְמַלְתִּיו, וְאֵין חוֹשְׁשִׁין עוֹד לִי". לְפִיכָךְ, "וַיֹּאמֶר לְהָבִיא אֶת סֵפֶר הַזִּכְרֹנוֹת":

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
**To bring the book of archives.** It is the custom of kings that when their sleep is disturbed, parables and tales are recounted before them until their sleep is restored. Our Rabbis, however, explained that since he took to heart [the matter of] Haman and Esther, he said [to himself], “It is impossible that someone who is my friend should not know their plan and divulge it to me.” He [thought] again and said [to himself], “Perhaps someone did me a favor, and I did not repay him and they do not care about me anymore.” Therefore, “he ordered to bring the book of archives.”³

footnotes:
³ Ibid.


###### Rashi on Esther 6:9:1
[Rashi on Esther 6:9:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashi%20on%20Esther/r/6:9:1)

**וְנָתוֹן הַלְּבוּשׁ וְהַסּוּס עַל יַד אִישׁ.** וְאֶת הַכֶּתֶר לֹא הִזְכִּיר, שֶׁרָאָה עֵינוֹ שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ רָעָה עַל שֶׁאָמַר שֶׁיִּתְּנוּ הַכֶּתֶר בְּרֹאשׁ אָדָם:

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
**Let the robe and the horse be handed to a man.** But he did not mention the crown, because he saw that the king became jealous when he said that they should place the crown on [another] person’s head.


###### Rashi on Esther 6:12:1
[Rashi on Esther 6:12:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashi%20on%20Esther/r/6:12:1)

**וַיָּשָׁב מָרְדְּכַי.** לְשַׂקּוֹ וּלְתַעֲנִיתוֹ:

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
**Mordechai then returned.** To his sackcloth, and to his fasting.⁴

footnotes:
⁴ Maseches Megillah 16a. This was the last day of Mordechai’s three day fast. (Sifsei Chachomim)


###### Rashi on Esther 6:12:2
[Rashi on Esther 6:12:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashi%20on%20Esther/r/6:12:2)

**אָבֵל וַחֲפוּי רֹאשׁ.** רַבּוֹתֵינוּ פֵּרְשׁוּ הַדָּבָר בְּמַסֶּכֶת מְגִילָּה:

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
**Grief stricken, his head covered [in shame].** Our Rabbis explained this matter in Maseches Megillah.⁵

footnotes:
⁵ 16a; The Rabbis explained that Haman’s daughter mistook the horse rider as her father, and the man leading him as Mordechai. Unwittingly, she tossed the contents of a chamber pot on her father. When Haman looked up and she saw that it was her father, she fell off the roof and died. Therefore Haman was “grief stricken” on account of his daughter’s death, and “his head covered” by the chamber pot’s contents.


###### Rashi on Esther 6:13:1
[Rashi on Esther 6:13:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rashi%20on%20Esther/r/6:13:1)

**אֲשֶׁר הַחִלּוֹתָ לִנְפֹּל וגו'.** אָמְרָה: אֻמָּה זוּ נִמְשְׁלוּ לְכוֹכָבִים וּלְעָפָר. כְּשֶׁהֵם יוֹרְדִים יוֹרְדִים עַד לֶעָפָר, וּכְשֶׁהֵם עוֹלִים עוֹלִים עַד לָרָקִיעַ וְעַד הַכּוֹכָבִים:

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
**Since you have begun to fall, etc.** She said, “This nation has been compared to the stars and to the dust. When they descend, they descend to the dust, and when they ascend, they ascend up to the sky and the stars.”⁶

footnotes:
⁶ Maseches Megillah 15a. Zeresh and Haman’s advisers forewarned Haman that Mordechai’s rise to honor signified the beginning of the rise of the Jews and of Haman’s downfall.