In the ancient Jewish quarter of the Kazimir district in Krakow, Poland, you’ll find a street called Ulica Estery. It’s named after Queen Esterke, as she was referred to in Yiddish. Like Purim’s Queen Esther, this 14th century Jewess was married to a gentile king — Casimir III — and used her position of power to save Polish Jews from persecution.
About 200 years after Queen Esterke lived, Rabbi Dovid Ganz (a student of both the Rema and the Maharal) authored a book titled Tzemach Dovid, which is the first Jewish documentary evidence of Queen Esterke’s existence. He writes that there was a Jewish Queen Esther whose husband, Casimir, granted the Jews of Poland special liberties as a result of her influence.
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