[Avodah] Haman's yahrzeit

Akiva Miller akivagmiller at gmail.com
Sat Feb 17 21:23:53 PST 2018


.
I am trying to figure out when Haman was hanged.

Rashi on Esther 4:17 says that the three days of Esther's fast were
Nisan 14, 15, and 16. Perek 5:1 tells us that Esther's first meeting
with the king was on "the third day", which I presume to mean the
third day of the fast, Nisan 16.

That night, Motzaei Nisan 16 was the famous "sleepless night"
documented at the beginning of Esther 6. Subsequent events -- the
Mordechai parade, Esther's second meeting with Achashveirosh, and the
hanging of Haman -- must have taken place no earlier than Nisan 17.

So why do I find many sources saying that Haman was hanged on Nisan
16? Several such sources include
https://www.ou.org/judaism-101/bh-yom-yom/nissan/
http://www.torahtots.com/timecapsule/thismonth/nisan.htm
http://www.mayanyisroel.net/templates/blog/post_cdo/aid/2792698/PostID/60619

I suspect that the confusion might stem from exactly which three days
were the fast. Above, I quoted Rashi that the three days were Nisan
14-16, but ArtScroll's Megillas Esther, on 5:1 says the following.
(The parentheses and brackets are theirs; I did not note their use of
italics:

1. Bayom hashlishi - Third day [of the fast (M'nos Halevi)]. It was
the first day of Passover (Rashi).

It seems to me that if the three days of the fast were Nisan 14 15 and
16, then the third day was Nisan 16. And on my calendar, Nisan 16 is
the *second* day of Pesach. Why does ArtScroll say that the third day
of the fast is the first day of Pesach?

I do concede that IF the third day of the fast was the first day of
Pesach, then the correct date of the hanging would have been Nisan 16,
like other sources seem to say. But that would not be consistent with
Rashi on 4:17. Am I looking at the wrong Rashi? Are there variant
texts of this Rashi?

Thanks!
Akiva Miller


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