Who Was Vashti?
Vashti was born to Babylonian royalty. Her grandfather was Nebuchadnezzar, who had destroyed Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem and driven the Jews into exile. Her father was Belshazzar, the last in a line of great Babylonian kings whose dramatic death is described in the Book of Daniel. Belshazzar threw a party and commanded that revelers drink from the holy vessels of the Temple and then praise “the gods of gold and silver…” At that moment, a large unattached finger appeared and started to write on the wall: “God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end… Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” That very night invading hoards of Persians and Medes attacked; Vashti was the only survivor. But the spirit of conquest that had doomed her father lived on intact within her. We learn more about Vashti from the Talmud (in Megillah 12). It tells us that Vashti ordered that Jewish women be brought before her, then forced them to undress and coerce
