Esther, whose name was Hadassah, was a beautiful Jewish maiden who was an orphan and raised by his cousin Mordecai. She had been taken captivity from Jerusalem. Esther father and mother were dead and Mordecai took for his own daughter. Esther was the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai. The story of Esther begins the origin of the major Jewish feast day the feast of Purim.