Mordechai  
Sitting at the King’s Gate, I hear most important news,
today I learned Queen Vashti had impolitely refused
to be leered at by drunk men upon the King’s stage,
so he has tossed her away and is burning with rage.

The King’s men are now searching all over his land 
to find willing young maidens to lay under his hand,
virgins who will bow down in fear of his power
beautiful maidens he’ll be happy to deflower.

Perhaps this is a chance for me to take things in hand,
for my daughter Esther to become queen of this land.
With her in the palace I would gain great power,
we can help save our people if she gives up her flower.

The King 
I'm Asheverous, powerful sovereign, the greatest of kings,
I throw parties for lesser mortals and show off my things. 
Vashti was the most precious thing that I own,
but she refused to acknowledge who sits on the throne. 

Of course I want Esther, what's not to love?
She gently surrounds me, my hand's in her glove. 
She's not only beautiful, she does as she's told. 
If a woman is submissive she can live to grow old. 

Bigthan and Teresh, Eunuchs
Of course we wanted to kill the King.
Wouldn’t you, if he cut off your golden scepter?

Mordechai
I knew that when Esther lay in the King’s bed
she would be able to soothe him and lessen the dread
of being openly Jewish in a strange, foreign land, 
subject to murderous pagan demands.

Esther 
When Mordechai first proposed this complicated thing
for me to become a real queen by charming the King
I thought it would be pleasant to be pampered and fed,
but that ended quickly when I was taken to his bed.

What did a young virgin without mother or friend
know of the pain that would come in the end?
How could she know what all of it meant,
or how it would be when she was taken and rent?

  ******
I thought I might die.
I was afraid I would live.
I rested in the kindness of the Eunuchs who were also in pain. 
And I changed.

I remembered my name, Hadassah, “myrtle,” a tree with leaves that 
contain healing and flowers that are symbols of paradise and rebirth. 

I wanted to live, but I was willing to die. 
I approached the King and prayed for the deliverance of my people.
When you tell my story, do not remember me as Queen Esther.

My name is Hadassah.



(c) marthahurwitz2025