Rabbinic, refers to the Talmud and the various components of the Oral Law eventually transcribed through 200-600 C.E. The inclusion of these rabbinic citations encourages the reader to use the graphic novel as a stepping-stone in the exploration of Jewish literature.

The creative elaborations throughout MEGILLAT ESTHER are both corroborated and illuminated with their addition.

The rabbinic citations for Chapter 1 of MEGILLAT ESTHER are listed below. The first number corresponds with the footnote located in the lower right corner of specific panels. Following the dash is the specific verse from the Book of Esther that the rabbis have commented upon.

1-1:4 Esther Raba 2:1

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Babylonian Talmud
Megillah 12a

He (Achashuerosh) displayed and donned the priestly vestments of the Kohanim.”

2-1:12 Babylonian Talmud

Megillah 12b

“Vashti refused because she was stricken with leprosy”

“Vashti refused because the angel Gabriel placed a tail on her”

“The king was the stable boy of Vashti’s father King Nebuchadnezzar”

3-1:16 Esther Raba 1:16

Three different rabbis recount why Memucan had a previous disposition against Vashti:

1. She slapped his face with a sandal.
2.She had not invited his wife to the women’s feast.
3. He had a daughter that he wished to make queen.

4-1:22 Babylonian Talmud

Megillah 12b

Rava said, “ The people upon receiving them said: What is this that he is sending us? That each man rule in his house? Even a common weaver is “law” in his house! (Thinking him a trifle unbalanced, they hesitated in acting upon his next missives ordering the destruction of the Judeans, fearing that he might undergo a change of heart.”