that was already well established among the Jews. We might compare the book of Esther to yearly holiday specials that tell us about the meaning of Christmas (either the actual biblical story or the popular Santa Claus version). Society already celebrates the holiday; the stories enhance the celebration by providing an entertaining and perhaps educational presentation of the well-loved tale. It seems very likely that the story of Esther and Mordecai was known in some form before the book of Esther