King Ahasuerus dismissed his wife, Vashti, in order to marry a beautiful girl named Esther (her Hebrew name was Hadassah. The name Esther is probably related to the wordstar) who kept her Jewish identity a secret from the king's palace.
Mordechai was cousin and guardian to Esther and would visit her every day to see how she was faring. When he discovered a plot to assassinate the king, he reported it to the king's servants and the loyal deed was recorded in the annals of Ahasuerus.
Meanwhile, a very high government official by the name of Haman, hated Mordechai and the Jewish people. He convinced the king to allow him to destroy the Jewish people on the 13th of the month of Adar. When Mordechai heard about the coming catastrophe he asked Esther to intervene. She succeeded in convincing the king to change his mind and in effect, to allow the Jews to use all their strength to fight against the enemy. The Jews were saved, although they had to fight against bitter enemies for 2 days.
The king, with Esther's persuasion, ordered that Haman be killed. Mordechai became a deputy to the King and all the Jews celebrated the great victory on the 14th and 15th of the month of Adar.
They "undertook and irrevocably obligated them-selves and their descendants and all who might join them, to observe these two days in the manner prescribed and at the proper time each year. Consequently, these days are recalled and observed in every generation: by every family, every province and every city. And these days of Purim shall never cease among the Jews, and the memory of them shall never perish among their descendants" (Esther, 9, 27-28).
* Biblical spelling (pronounced Achashverosh)
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