2 Questions:
1) According to the view that Chatach is Daniel, why wasn't Daniel
Mordechai? In other words - We know that everyone but Mordechai succumbed
to yeush and attended the king's feast or fled the city. How could daniel
be so guilty?
2) When did Esther die? Did she go back to Israel with Mordechai? If not,
how did he out-live her? What do we know of the rest of her life? Was she
happy?
Randy Lazarus, Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel
1) I don't know it to be true that Mordechai was the only Jew not to sin. If there is such a Midrash (and if it is meant to be taken literally), the same question may be asked about the other members of the Anshei Knesses ha'Gedolah who lived at the time (see Megilah 16b). I presume Daniel did not sin along with the other Jews.
2) We do not know how long Esther lived; she did not go back to Israel as far as we know. Her end was anticlimatic, in a sense, in that she presumably remained in Achashverosh's harem until her demise. TOSFOS (Rosh Hashanah 3b, DH Shnas) tells us that she was the mother of Daryavesh, the king who took the throne after the death of Achashverosh and allowed Nechemyah to restart the construction of the Beis ha'Mikdash; we discussed this at length in our Insights there. Presumably Esther died happily, knowing that she not only saved the Jews from certain death but that she was the catalyst for the construction of the second Beis ha'Mikdash.
Mordecai Kornfeld
(a) The Midrash says the members of the Sanhedrin fled Shushan to avoid the
party. Daniel didn't and must, therefore, be included among the implicated.
Even if we don't say this much, we still must explain Daniel's sudden demise (Highest ranking official in Balthesar's kingdom, and who should only have gained ststus after the handwriting on the wall incident). How can we explain the silence on this huge character of our tradition?
(b) Why are Ezra and Nechemia silent about their debt to Esther?
Randy Lazarus
(a) Daniel couldn't run away from Shushan because of his ranking position in the palace. He undoubtedly found a way to avoid sinning, as did Mordechai (who was in a similar position).
Daniel was still a Navi and active well after the Purim story, see Gemara top of 12a.
(b) I'm not sure why they should mention her. (It was Daryavesh, not Esther, who let them return to Israel.)
Be well,
M. Kornfeld