“On the seventh day, when the king’s heart was merry with wine.” Seforim teach us that the word Esther is derived from the word which means that the miracles are hidden. One of the miracles of Purim was that Achashverosh ordered Vashti to be put to death which brought about the rise of Esther to become queen. One of the reasons Vashti did not appear before Achashverosh was that she scolded him over the fact that a king shouldn’t become drunk. This is stated in the Gemara Megillah 12:b Vashti sent her husband a message: “You stable boy of my father! My father Belshazzar drank wine the equivalent of what a thousand people drink and did not get drunk, and you Achashverosh became foolish from his wine.” Immediately his anger burned within him.
Now, the question arises: Achashverosh made a party for 180 days for his ministers and servants, and he drank and drank, more than enough wine, yet he didn’t become drunk. Then he made another party for seven days for the people in Shushan. For 186 days he drank wine and didn’t become drunk; but on Day 187, he becomes drunk? This difficult to understand. Therefore, we can conclude, that Achashverosh’s getting drunk was the beginning of the miracle of Purim. Hashem made sure that Achashverosh would get drunk on Day 187 which coincidentally fell on Shabbos, as Rashi quotes the Gemara Megilla: -the seventh day- which is Shabbos. When Achashverosh got drunk and ordered Vashti to appear before him, she refused, and berated him. Under the influence of wine, he ordered her to be put to death. After the wine wore off, he wondered what happened to Vashti, which led to his taking Esther for a wife.
(Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
