I greatly enjoy reading The Link weekly and one of the authors whose articles I always look forward to reading is Rabbi Haim Jachter, a man I respect and admire to the utmost degree.

However, I have a small quibble with one of his statements in the March 10, 2022 Jewish Link article entitled “Memuchan Is Haman: So What?”

In the very first paragraph, Rabbi Jachter asserts that it is Memuchan/Haman who urges the king to kill Vashti for her refusal to appear before the king.

In my opinion, said assertion may be an incorrect and a common misinterpretation of the opening palatial events. I believe that Vashti was not killed off. I contend that, and for the reasons following, she was likely either exiled or helped herself to a one-way trip out of Shushan in the middle of the night during the king’s drunken stupor.

To expound further on this point, one needs to recognize that in those ancient times, and particularly in the Arabic influenced states, the potentate had not just one wife, but an entire harem of wives. One of the “wives” would be designated as the No. 1 wife (here, Vashti to King Achashverosh). It was not uncommon that when the No. 1 wife (aka head of the harem) fell out of favor, for whatever reason, she could be replaced with a different (usually much younger) wife. This is probably what happened here. That was the royal prerogative of the king.

Indeed, my thesis that Vashti was probably not in fact executed, can be supported by an examination of the words of Memuchan in advising the king how to deal with the insolent Queen Vashti: “Ew-Malchusah yee-tain Ha-Melech Li’Riusah HaTovah,” or in English, “Let the king give her royal position to her fellow who is better than she.” (Chapter 1, verse 19) These words are more consistent with the notion of replacing an out-of-grace head of harem with someone who is considered “better,” and not as words ordaining killing her.

Further in identifying the source (text of the Megillat Esther), there is no mention of Vashti’s death. No mention of an order for her execution. And we all know that the Megillah does not shy away from using those terms throughout its pages in describing the fate of others. (Witness the textual descriptions confirming the executions of would-be assassins Bigthan and Teresh, Chapter 2, verse 23, and of course, in following chapters, concerning the fate of Haman and his sons.) So, this being the case, why weren’t similar terms of condemnation used in describing the fate of Vashti?

Another reason mitigating against the execution of Vashti can be derived from the Midrashic description of Vashti as a princess in her own right, her royal lineage stretching back to Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. There is therefore strong reason to assume that her marriage to Achashverosh was more than strictly a romantic escapade. Historically, in the epoch of the times of Megillat Esther, political marriages were not uncommon. The pragmatic object of a royal marriage served to enable a ruler (here Achashverosh) to consolidate his power throughout the land and maintain peaceful relations throughout the provinces with the other heads of state.

Therefore, this argues further against the execution of Vashti. As mentioned, she was a princess, probably of Babylonian heritage. Summarily executing her could be considered a drastic and nearly unpardonable insult to her allies in her former land, and could imperil any peaceful relations otherwise derived from the royal union.

Basically, I believe that Rabbi Jachter (as well as a host of other commentators) possibly strays when interpreting clear and factual source statements to say something vastly different (when any evidence for that difference seems to be lacking in the text).

Perhaps it’s my attorney background, but I have always had faith in the accepted jurisprudence of the legal concept of the “best evidence rule”—which basically states that, in seeking to prove a statement, the best evidence thereof can be found in the most original authentic source available. Here the best evidence rule (the clear text of the Megillah) clearly holds that the fate of Vashti was not that she was killed, but was more likely replaced by “her fellow who is better than she” (see above)—by Queen Esther, a true biblical heroine.

Thank you.

Sam Z. Mallin, Esq.

Chatham