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Rav says that he fed her Jewish food. (Although she did not say she was Jewish, it was known that she was raised in the home of Mordechai. People assumed that he had adopted her but that she was not Jewish. So Esther said that she wanted Kosher food because that’s what she was used to (Ben Yehoyada).)
Shmuel said that he fed her fatty hog bacon (oy gevald!). Don’t worry, there is an opinion that she didn’t eat it (Tosafot ibid.). But some say that she was forced to eat it (Rashi). The commentator Torah Temimah suggests that she was offered this bacon delicacy for her own good, but she did not have to accept it. According to Aruch’s reading of the text, it was not bacon but rather tops of lettuce.
Rabbi Yochonon said that he fed her legumes (beans, peas (Rashi), or rice (Ibn Ezra)). Esther went vegan for a while. (Hence the custom of some to eat legumes on Purim.)
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Mitzvot » Kosher » Miscellaneous
