אסתר, פרק ב׳, פסוק י״ד

The process of selecting a new queen in the Persian palace was a one-way journey where a single night permanently sealed a young woman's fate. In a matter of hours, she transitioned from a hopeful candidate into a captive of the royal court. The encounters between the king and the candidates took place strictly from evening until morning. Some view this timing as a display of modesty by the king, avoiding relations during the daylight hours [תורה תמימה, אלשיך, מנות הלוי]. However, his motives were likely driven by personal anxieties rather than pure morals. He may have feared that seeing a woman in the daylight would reveal a physical flaw and cause him to be repulsed [תורה תמימה], or he might have been acting out of lingering trauma from his experiences with his previous queen. Because of these self-serving motives, the king receives no direct praise for this discretion. Instead, the initiative is credited to the young women themselves [מנות הלוי]. Even though they knew this single night would likely end with them locked away in a harem, never to see the king again, they approached him willingly and eagerly, holding onto the hope of winning the crown [מלבי״ם, אלשיך, מנות הלוי].

When morning arrived, the young woman did not return to her previous quarters. The primary approach among commentators is that the royal courtyard contained two separate houses for women. The first house, managed by Hegai, was dedicated to the new candidates undergoing their months of beauty treatments. The second house, overseen by Shaashgaz, was reserved exclusively for those who had already spent a night with the king [רש״י, רלב״ג, אבן עזרא, עמנואל הרומי]. An alternative perspective suggests that rather than moving to a second building, the young woman simply returned to the main women's quarters for a second time [אבן עזרא, עמנואל הרומי].

Regardless of the exact location, she was now under the strict supervision of Shaashgaz, the guardian of the concubines. Returning to her family was no longer an option. Having been intimate with the king, it would be considered a severe disgrace and an insult to the royal honor if she were ever to be with another man. Consequently, these women remained permanently in the palace as the king's exclusive concubines. The very concept of a concubine implies a state of separation; she is not bound by standard marriage, but is completely isolated and set apart from the rest of the world solely for the king's use [אבן עזרא, אלשיך, יוסף אבן יחיא, עמנואל הרומי].

Once her night was over, her regular turn in the rotation ended permanently. She would only see the king again if he developed a specific desire for her and instructed his guards to summon her by name [יוסף אבן יחיא, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. To maintain order and prevent desperate women from impersonating others or bribing the guards to secure another turn, every woman's name was carefully documented [מנות הלוי]. If her name was never called, she was condemned to live out her days in the concubines' house. Her only remaining hope was that the king would find no one better among the remaining candidates and eventually choose to crown her [אבן עזרא, עמנואל הרומי].