Responsa for Yoma 57:5
והא איכא חנוכה ניתנה לכתוב קא אמרינן הניחא למאן דאמר אסתר ניתנה לכתוב אלא למאן דאמר אסתר לא ניתנה לכתוב מאי איכא למימר
- just as the antlers of the hind branch off this way and that way, so the light of the dawn is scattered in all direction - R'Zera said: Why was Esther compared to a hind?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In Meg. 15b, Queen Esther is reported to have sung this psalm as she came before Ahasuerus, hence the comparison.');"><sup>9</sup></span> To tell you that just as a hind has a narrow womb and is desirable to her mate at all times as at the first time, so was Esther precious to King Ahasuerus at all time as at the first time.
Shut min haShamayim
They responded: "These days are recalled and observed" (Esther 9:28) - just as they are observed by an individual, so too are they recalled by an individual. They also said: the reading of the Megillah is like Hallel (Megillah 14a) - just as the recitation of Hallel at its time is done by an individual, so too with the Megillah. As it is written (Psalms 22:3) "My God, I cry by day—You answer not; by night, and have no respite"3This Psalm is attributed to Esther, see Yoma 29a:4 - all this in first person singular. So too, "This is my God, I shall glorify Him" (Exodus 15:2) - first person singular. Some time later they responded again: "Isaac spoke and said, why have you come to me, and you hate me, etc." "And they said to him, behold we have seen that God is with you etc.," "And we shall send you in peace, for you are now blessed by God." "Let there be a bond between us, and let us make a covenant with you." (Genesis 26:27-29) "Like an apple among the trees of the forest is my lover among men, I craved to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my tongue." (Song of Songs 2:3) All this they reported to me in truth, in my dream, exactly as I have written.*The last set of verses seems to be an account of a conversation in the heavenly Yeshiva, where the Rif (Isaac) defends his position from that of the others.
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