זכר את ושתי ואת אשר עשתה ואת אשר נגזר עליה
“He remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what had been decreed upon her.” (Esther 2:1)
The Gemara in Megillah (12b) says that this refers to the Heavenly decree against Vashti for causing the Jewish girls to disrobe and work for her on Shabbos. Why did she want them to violate Shabbos and why was her punishment meted out necessarily on Shabbos?
The Yalkut Me’am Lo’az explains as follows: Cyrus, King of Persia gave the order that the Beis HaMikdosh, which had been razed by Nevuchadnezar, should be rebuilt. Two years afterward, Achashveirosh, King of the vast Persian Empire, put a halt on the rebuilding. He did this under the influence of Queen Vashti, granddaughter of Nevuchadnezar. She had furiously bellowed “Why are you allowing the rebuilding of what my grandfather destroyed?” (See Medrash Rabbah 5:2, Yeshayah 45.)
Cognizant that in merit of properly observing Shabbos the redemption would come, (Yerushalmi, Ta’anis 1:1) Vashti did not allow Jewish women to wear their nice clothing on Shabbos, which is a way of honoring Shabbos. Moreover, she forced them to actually violate it, by performing work. She anticipated that once the women stopped keeping Shabbos, they would influence the men to follow suit. Hence, the Jews would remain in exile and the Beis HaMikdosh would not be rebuilt.
Hashem’s way of punishment is midah keneged midah — measure for measure. Since Vashti stripped the clothing of the Jewish girls and caused them to desecrate Shabbos, and Shabbos is known as Shabbos HaMalkah — Shabbos the Queen (Shabbos 119a) — hence, on the Shabbos, as she celebrated her reign as Queen, she was stripped of her title malkah — Queen — and put to death.
