Megillah 12B

בבוציני.

with zucchinis, indicating that often a man and his wife engage in similar actions.

״ביום השביעי כטוב לב המלך ביין״. אטו עד השתא לא טב לביה בחמרא? אמר רבא: יום השביעי שבת היה. שישראל אוכלין ושותין ⁠— מתחילין בדברי תורה ובדברי תשבחות. אבל אומות העולם שאוכלין ושותין ⁠— אין מתחילין אלא בדברי תיפלות.

The verse states: “On the 7th day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine” (Esther 1:10). The Talmud asks: Is that to say that until now his heart was not merry with wine? Did it take 7 days for him to achieve merriment? Rava said: The 7th day was Shabbat, when the difference between the Jewish people and the non-Jews is most apparent. On Shabbat, when the Jewish people eat and drink, they begin by occupying themselves with words of Torah and words of praise for God. But the non-Jewish nations, when they eat and drink, they begin only with words of licentiousness.

וכן בסעודתו של אותו רשע, הללו אומרים: מדיות נאות, והללו אומרים: פרסיות נאות. אמר להם אחשורוש: כלי שאני משתמש בו, אינו לא מדיי ולא פרסי אלא כשדיי, רצונכם לראותה? אמרו לו: אין, ובלבד שתהא ערומה.

The Talmud continues to detail what occurred at the feast. So too, at the feast of that wicked man, Ahasuerus, when the men began to converse, some said: The Median women are the most beautiful, while others said: The Persian women are the most beautiful. Ahasuerus said to them: The vessel that I use, i.e., my wife, is neither Median nor Persian, but rather Chaldean. Do you wish to see her? They said to him: Yes, provided that she be naked, for we wish to see her without any additional adornments.

שבמדה שאדם מודד ⁠— בה מודדין לו, מלמד שהיתה ושתי הרשעה מביאה בנות ישראל ומפשיטתן ערומות ועושה בהן מלאכה בשבת. היינו דכתיב: ״אחר הדברים האלה כשוך חמת המלך אחשורוש זכר את ושתי ואת אשר עשתה ואת אשר נגזר עליה״, כשם שעשתה ⁠— כך נגזר עליה.

The Talmud comments: Vashti was punished in this humiliating way for it is with the measure that a man measures to others that he himself is measured. In other words, God punishes individuals in line with their transgressions, measure for measure. This teaches that the wicked Vashti would take the daughters of Israel, and strip them naked, and make them work on Shabbat. Therefore, it was decreed that she be brought before the king naked, on Shabbat. This is as it is written: “After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her” (Esther 2:1). That is to say, just as she had done with the young Jewish women, so it was decreed upon her.