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In 355 BCE, Esther, after having won a kingdom-wide beauty pageant, was taken to King Achashverosh (Esther 2:16). Esther’s presence in the king’s palace enabled her to advocate on behalf of the Jews, and gain a reversal of Haman’s decree to annihilate the Jewish people. This series of miraculous events is recorded in the biblical Scroll of Esther, and commemorated each year on the holiday of Purim.