Tevet

on.

So Esther was taken unto the king, Asherah, and to his house, royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

Yes.

Wow.

See over there, where the dry riverbed is? Look a little farther away and you will see whether...

No, that devastation was brought about by the Roman soldiers when they were looking for that rogue in the cold nights of the month of Tebeth.

They camped there and lit fires.

And did they burn all the wood to light fires? Look how many trees are missing there.

When her turn came, she wore just what Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem, advised her to wear.

So in Xerxes' seventh year as king, in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, Esther was brought to King Xerxes in the royal palace.

The king liked her more than any of the other women, and more than any of the others, she won his favor and affection.

He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.

When the turn came for Esther, the daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go into the king, she asked for nothing except what Haggai, the king's eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised.

Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her, and when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth in the seventh year of his reign, the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins.

so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants.

Why? Because the Israelite reader might not know what that is.

Okay, so it'd be like if I said, well, I mean, it's a bit different, but if I said like, you know, Tevet, which falls out usually in December, or if I said December, which usually is Tevet, right? And it's really interesting because if you speak to ultra Orthodox Jews in Israel and you say, let's meet on December 25th, they would have no idea when that is.

They don't know if that's a month from now or 12 or six months from now.

They literally don't know.

And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her.

She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the 10th month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins.

So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Now Esther was admired by all who saw her.

When Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus in his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, the king loved Esther more than all the other women.

Of all the virgins, she won his favor and devotion, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the king gave a great banquet to all his officials and ministers, Esther's banquet.

Apparently, the reference to the fast of the seventh month found in the book of Zechariah is not a reference to the Day of Atonement.

Accordingly, we now fast on these days, the 10th of Tevet, which is in the 10th month, As a memorial to what happened one and a half years later, we also fast on the 17th of Tammuz in the fourth month, the fast of Tisha B'Av in the fifth month, and the fast of Gedaliah in the seventh month.

Tisha B'Av, the actual destruction of the temple, is commemorated by fasting for a whole day.

But the three remaining fasts are partial fasts.