The last mention of Achashveirosh in the Megillah is in the final chapter: וישם מלך אחשורוש מס על הארץ ואיי הים – “King Achashveirosh levied taxes on the mainland and the islands of the sea.” (Esther 10:1)
Incredibly, the Rema MiFano reveals that this is not the end of Achasveirosh’s story.
The Shabbos – Observant Cow
In the Pesikta Rabbasi (Parshas Porah, Pesikta 14), Chazal relate the following incident:
A Jewish farmer who fell on hard times sold the cow that he had used to pull his plow. The animal was purchased by a non-Jew, who immediately put the cow to work.
The cow plowed his fields competently throughout the week – until Shabbos. On Shabbos, the cow crouched down under the yoke and refused to move. It would not pull the plow. The new owner whipped the cow in an effort to compel it to get up and work; but his efforts were to no avail. The cow remained stationary.
The farmer went to the Jew who had sold him the cow, and expressed his frustration at his inability to get the cow to budge, despite coaxing and whipping it. The cow, he figured, must be ill, and therefore he wanted to return the beast for a full refund.
The former owner knew there was nothing wrong with the animal. The cow had become accustomed to not working on Shabbos and it didn’t understand that its new non-Jewish owner was permitted to work on Shabbos.
The Jewish farmer advised the new owner that there was no need to return the cow. He was confident that he could convince the cow to pull the plow.
He approached the cow and bent down to whisper in its ear. “Cow, you know that as long as you were in my possession, you worked six days a week and rested on Shabbos. However, I had to sell you, and your new owner is not Jewish. Please stand up and pull his plow. You are no longer required to rest on Shabbos.”
The cow immediately rose and began to pull the plow. The non-Jew was shocked. He had beaten the cow, yet despite all his efforts, the cow had refused to move. Yet the Jew had simply whispered into the animal’s ear, and suddenly it was ready to work!
HE expressed incredulity at what he witnessed, and he asked the Jew for an explanation. “What was it that you whispered to the cow?” The Jew reassured him that he had not employed any witchcraft or sorcery. He proceeded to relate precisely what he had told the cow.
When the farmer heard that the cow had not wanted to work in observance of Shabbos, he was profoundly moved. This cow, which was unable to speak and had intellect far inferior to that of a human being, was able to recognize its Creator and observe the day of rest mandated by G-d. How could he, a human with vastly superior intelligence, with an ability to reason and think, who was created in the image of G-d, not conduct himself according to the wishes of Hashem? How could he not realize that Hashem’s commandments must be followed, when a simple cow was able to recognize it?
The farmer was so deeply affected that he subsequently converted to Judaism.
The True Identity of the Cow and the Convert
The Rema MiFano (Gilgulay Neshomas, ois 6) reveals the identity of the cow and of the non-Jew who converted as a result of the animal’s unwillingness to work on Shabbos.
Achashveirosh’s evil queen, Vashti, who had enslaved Jewish girls and forced them to violate Shabbos, was reincarnated as a gilgul, in the form of the cow that would not work on Shabbos.
And what of the farmer who purchased Vashti’s reincarnation, who ultimately converted to Judaism as a result of what he witnessed with the cow? He was a gilgul
