10 FACTS about ESTHER

https://www.chabad.org/calendar/view/day.htm

10 Facts About the Fast of Esther Every Jew Should Know
Observed this year on Thursday, it commemorates the fasting of our ancestors in the Purim story.

By Yehuda Altein
Zachor
Torah Reading
Vayikra: Leviticus 1:1 - 5:26
Parshat Zachor: Deuteronomy 25:17-19
Zachor: Samuel I 15:1-34
Jewish History
War Against Persian Jew-haters (356 BCE)
On the 13th of Adar of the year 3405 from creation (356 BCE), battles were fought throughout the Persian Empire between the Jews and those seeking to kill them in accordance with the decree issued by King Achashveirosh 11 months earlier. (Achashveirosh never rescinded that decree; but after the hanging of Haman on Nissan 16 of the previous year, and Queen Esther's pleading on behalf of her people, he agreed to issue a second decree authorizing the Jews to defend themselves against those seeking to kill them.) 75,000 enemies were killed on that day, and 500 in the capital, Shushan, including Haman's ten sons (Parshandata, Dalfon, Aspata, Porata, Adalia, Aridata, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizata), whose bodies were subsequently hanged. The Jews did not take any of the possessions of the slain as booty, though authorized to do so by the king's decree. (The Book of Esther, chapter 9).

Link: The Story of Purim; see also "Today in Jewish History" for tomorrow, Adar 14.

Maccabee victory (135 BCE)
The Maccabees defeated the Syrian General Nicanor in a battle fought four years after the Maccabee's liberation of the Holy Land and the miracle of Chanukah.

Passing of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1986)
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein was one of the major leaders of American Jewry in the 20th century. Born in 1895, he came to New York in 1936 in order to escape the oppressive Soviet regime.

In addition to the students in the yeshivah he headed, he guided rabbis and lay people with his insightful and definitive responsa on virtually every area of Jewish law. Many of them have been collected in the multi-volume Igrot Moshe.

He passed away on 13 Adar II in the year 5746 (1986)

Passing of R. Yehudah the Pious (1217)
R. Yehudah HaChassid—the pious—was held in high esteem for his piety and saintliness. He authored Sefer Chassidim, a collection of ethical and halachic teachings that is widely studied to this day. The kabbalistic instructions included in his so-called “testament” are accepted and practiced in many communities.

Links: Rabbi Judah HaChassid; Why Don’t Jews Write ‘This Book Belongs to…’?

Laws and Customs
Parshat Zachor
This being the Shabbat before Purim, on which we celebrate the foiling of Haman the Amalekite's plot to destroy the Jewish people, the weekly Parshah is supplemented with the Zachor reading (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) in which we are commanded to remember the evil of Amalek and to eradicate it from the face of the earth.

"Parshat Zachor" is the second of four special readings added during or immediately before the month of Adar (the other three being "Shekalim", "Parah" and "Hachodesh")

Links:
The Zachor Reading with commentary
More on Who Was Amalek?

Read Megillah Tonight
The festival of Purim begins at nightfall tonight, and the Megillah (Book of Esther) is read for the first time this evening.

Since the first Megillah reading takes place after Shabbat ends, one should be careful not to travel to the synagogue to hear the reading prior to the end of Shabbat (click here for times), or before saying the special prayer: Blessed Is the One Who Separates Between Holy and Mundane. If one owns his own Megillah scroll, it should be brought to the synagogue prior to Shabbat (since one may not prepare on Shabbat for after Shabbat).

See entries for tomorrow, Adar 14. (In Jerusalem and other ancient walled cities, the festival is observed beginning tomorrow night--see entries for Adar 15.)

NOTE: The "Fast of Esther", usually observed on this date, is moved back this year to the previous Thursday, because of the sanctity of Shabbat (see entry for Adar 11)