Halakhah zu Esther 2:28

The earliest references to this matter in rabbinic literature focus upon ascription of authorship rather than upon proprietary rights and the concern expressed is for recognition of intellectual prowess rather than protection of pecuniary interests. Thus, Avot 6:6 declares that one who repeats a halakhah or insight in the name of its original exponent brings salvation to the world. This doctrine is supported by the verse "… and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai" (Esther 2:22). Esther's report to Ahasuerus in the name of Mordecai set in motion a train of events which led to the salvation of the Jewish people. An even stronger statement establishing an absolute obligation to acknowledge the source of scholarly insights is found in a midrashic statement recorded in Tanḥuma, Parashat Bamidbar, 22, and in Yalkut Shim'oni, Proverbs 22:22, and cited by Magen Avraham, Oraḥ Hayyim 156:2: "One who does not repeat a matter in the name of the person who said it transgresses the negative commandment 'Rob not the weak because he is poor (Proverbs 22:22).' "

Rabbi Goldberg points out that R. Akiva Eger's position is contradicted by at least one authority. R. Joseph Engel, Bet ha-Ozar, erekh av, argues that, although the sire of a fetus is a "father," nevertheless the female carrying the fetus in her womb is not recognized as a "mother" in the eyes of Jewish law until the moment of parturition. The Gemara, Megillah 13a, notes the redundancy inherent in the phrases "for she did not have a father or a mother" and "upon the death of her father and her mother" (Esther 2:7) and indicates that the second phrase is designed to convey additional information to the effect that Esther did not have a father or mother for even a single day. The Gemara comments that Esther's father died as soon as her mother conceived and that her mother perished upon her birth. The Gemara carefully spells out that Esther is described as never having had a father because her father died following conception before he could properly be termed a "father," i.e., before the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, and that she is described as never having had a mother despite the fact that her mother survived until the end of the gestational period. Esther is described as not having a mother because her mother died in childbirth Hence this talmudic passage clearly indicates that a woman may properly be termed a "mother" only upon parturition. Presumably, the distinction between the male and female parent is based upon the fact that the male's role in reproduction ceases upon fertilization of the ovum and, accordingly, he is termed a "father" as soon as the fetus has reached a significant stage of development, whereas the female's role remains incomplete until the moment of birth.²¹See R. Yitzchak Ya‘akov Rabinowitz, Zekher Yiẓḥak, I, no. 4. Why R. Akiva Eger ignored the discussion in Megillah is unclear.²²See Maharal of Prague, Or Ḥadash, s.v. va-yehi omen. Indeed, even if no compelling evidence can be adduced demonstrating recognition of dual maternal relationships, the possibility of dual relationships cannot be excluded unless there is evidence to that effect. He may have regarded that discussion as aggadic in nature and hence as not being a proper source for derivation of a halakhic principle.

When the new moon comes again at the time of ripening in the Land of Israel, then one year is complete, whether the year is twelve months or thirteen. For this reason, in Hebrew they did not refer to the month of ripening as Nisan, rather “first.”⁸⁰ The first month in the Hebrew calendar might not always coincide with the Babylonian month of Nisan. The same is true for all the months. Therefore, other than in books of the exilic period, you will not find in the twenty-four books (the Hebrew Bible)⁸¹ The canon for the Hebrew Bible contains 24 books: Pentateuch (5), Early Prophets (4), Later Prophets (4), Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemia, Megilot (5), and Chronicles. names for the months as they are known today, of which the first is Nisan.⁸² The names used for the months of the Hebrew calendar – Nisan, Iyar, etc. – for approximately the last two and a half millennia are Babylonian in origin. These names were adopted by the Jews after the destruction of the first Temple. Until that time the months were not given names and were referred to numerically – first month, second month, etc. So the year for Israel does not begin with the equinox, rather with the day of the new moon. Once we know that this month is the first, we observe the holidays in the seventh month from it. Thus, if Passover was in the days when the barley ripens, then Pentacost will be at the time of cutting and Tabernacles at the time of gathering.