After Achashverosh gets rid of his wife Vashti and begins the search for a new queen, the Scroll of Esther introduces the heroine of the Purim Story by stating that that a Jewish man named Mordechai lived in Shushan, and “he raised Hadassah — she is Esther, his cousin — because she did not have a father or mother” (Est. 2:7). This verse contains the only reference to the name Hadassah, as throughout the rest of the story, the heroine is always called Esther. Ralbag (to Est. 2:7) clearly states that the heroine of the story had two names Esther and Hadassah, but does not expand on the relationship between these two names and what they mean.

The Talmud (Megillah 13a) was already bothered by her dual names, and presented several different opinions as to how to understand the interplay between them. The first approach is that of the Tannaitic sage Rabbi Meir, who maintained that her actual name was Esther, but that she was called Hadassah because righteous people are likened to a hadas (“myrtle”). Rabbi Meir adduces this notion from a passage in which the prophet Zecharia describes Hashem’s Shechinah (“Holy Presence”) being exiled to Babylon alongside righteous men from Jerusalem by saying “…and He stands amongst the myrtles [hadasim]” (Zech. 1:8). The Chachmei Tzarfat commentary (to Est. 2:7) also seems to follow this approach, commenting on the word Hadassah “that was what they called her,” and commenting on the word Esther “that was her name.”

Interestingly, the Talmud (Megillah 10b) also relates that the Amoraic sage Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachamani began his exegetical excurses into the Scroll of Esther by citing the verse “instead of the thornbush will arise a myrtle-tree” (Isa. 55:13) as an allusion to Esther (the myrtle) replacing the position once held by Vashti (the thornbush). Targum Sheini (to Est. 2:7) also explains that her “Hebrew name” was Hadassah because just as a myrtle contributes a good fragrance to the world, so did Esther’s good deeds contribute to the world, and because righteous people are compared to a myrtle.

The Talmud (Megillah 13a) then cites the Tannaitic sage Rabbi Yehuda as explaining that the opposite is true: her real name was Hadassah, but she was called Esther because she “hid” (nistar) her origins from Achashverosh by refusing to reveal from which nation she came (Est. 2:20). Rabbi Avigdor Katz (a late 12th century sage) adds that the name Esther also refers to Mordechai “hiding” (nistar) his cousin when Achashverosh was looking for a bride queen.

The connection between the name Esther and “hiding” is also found in another passage in the Talmud (Chullin 139b), which famously asks “Where do we find the name Esther in the Torah?” and answers by citing the verse in which Hashem warns “I shall surely hide Myself (haster astir)” from the Jewish People should they indulge in sin (Deut.........

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