[Avodah] Vashti

[Chana Luntz]

RET writes:

> I repeat my previous question - what forced Chazal to assume 
> Vashti has sins and was evil. This is not pshat in the 
> pesukim.

My instinct is that it is because they understood the megila, in
totality, as being about everybody getting their just desserts (ie good
triumphing over evil). However, unless you understand Vashti in the way
Chazal do, then what happened to her does (and probably should) lead to
some moral discomfort.  After all, despite the triumph of Esther, and
the total necessity of her being installed as queen, the situation does
feel a bit tarnished if in fact she got the position from a tzadekes who
ended up suffering for her tzidkus. After all (getting back to an old
debate on Avodah) if one is supposed to feel some measure of sorrow as
to the drowning of pharo and the mitzrim in the yam suf, even though
they were both evil and chasing after the Jews, how should we feel about
somebody who would appear to be righteous, and yet whose role in the
narrative is to be pushed aside and disposed of, in order that the Jews
should have a mechanism for being saved.  Can we really have legitimate
and thorough simcha in such a case?  And yet the clear message of the
megilla is not that way (read the concluding psukim) - so I think one
does need to conclude that Vashti must have, in some way, been evil.

> 
> -- 
> Eli Turkel

Regards

Chana