The Feast of Ahasuerus and Haman's Decree

Ahasuerus, ruler of an empire of a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, held a feast in Shushan that lasted a hundred and eighty days, followed by seven days for the whole city. It was more than a banquet: the king displayed the vessels Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from the ruined Temple in Jerusalem, convinced that Jeremiah's seventy years had expired and the Temple would never rise again. The feast ended in scandal — Queen Vashti refused to appear and was executed. After a long search for a new queen, Esther, cousin and ward of Mordechai of the tribe of Benjamin, was taken to the palace; on Mordechai's instruction she concealed her origin.

Years later the king elevated Haman the Agagite, a descendant of Amalek's king Agag, above all his officials. Mordechai alone refused to bow. Haman decided to avenge himself not on one man but on a nation. He cast lots — pur — and the lot fell on the month of Adar. For ten thousand talents of silver he purchased the right of extermination, and on the 13th of Nisan letters went out under the royal seal: on a single day, the 13th of Adar, all Jews, young and old, women and children, were to be killed and their property plundered.