וישם המלך אחשרש מס על הארץ ואיי הים
“King Achashveirosh levied a tax on the mainland and the islands of the sea.” (Esther 10:1)
Throughout the Megillah Achashveirosh is spelled with either one or two “vavs.” Why is the “vav” omitted entirely here?
The Orah V’Simcha explains: Public officials are highly lauded when they reduce taxes and criticized and scorned when they increase taxes. Not knowing Esther’s nationality, the King proclaimed an amnesty (from taxes) for all the provinces in her honor when he married her (2:18), thus enhancing his popularity with all the people. Now that he had levied taxes, he immediately lost some of their admiration and to indicate the decline in his popularity, his name is not spelled as fully as previously.
Achashveirosh Financed the Rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdosh
Interestingly, the Vilna Gaon point out that מס, taxes, has the gematria of one hundred. ואיי, and the islands, is numerically equivalent to twenty-seven. This is an allusion to the fact that Achashveirosh taxed all one hundred and twenty-seven provinces within his vast kingdom.
The obvious question is, why do we care that Achashveirosh taxed his subjects? Is there something especially significant about this that warrants its placement among the final pasukim of the Megillah?
In Sefer Ezra, we learn about Daryavesh, the son of Esther and Achashveirosh. After his father’s death, he assumed the throne of Persia. At that time, the Jews were seeking to rebuild the Beis HaMikdosh. They were met with opposition, and there was a shortage of funds to proceed with the construction.
The Navi tells us about the decree that Daryavesh issued:
ומני שים טעם למא די תעבדון עם שבי יהודיא אלך למבנא בית אלהא דך ומנכסי מלכא די מדת עבר נהרה אספרנא נפקתא תהוא מתיהבא לגבריא אלך די לא לבטלא. ומה חשחן ובני תורין ודכרין ואמרין לעלון לאלה שמיא חנטין מלח חמר ומשח כמאמר כהניא די בירושלם להוא מתיהב להם יום ביום די לא שלו.
