14th and 15th Adar 5780 – it is Purim again. In Israel that means: lots of sweets and drinks and masquerading in a carnevalesque and merry festival remembering the rescue of the Jews from the hands of their enemies and from Haman‘s annihilation plot through the intercession of a woman by the name of Hadassah, Esther, – once upon a time queen, the wife of king Ahasuerus who ruled over the Persian empire. Time for us to revisit the book of Esther that tells her story…
There are different – shorter and longer – versions of the book of Esther. In the Latin Bible compiled by Saint Jerome we find the more elaborate one. The 16th century Douay-Rheims translation of Sacred Scripture, an English translation of the Latin Bible, displays this version as well, which is the one that has always been used in the Catholic Church. The difference between the longer and the shorter version is simply that the longer one features some additional chapters, while the text of the main corpus of the narrative is identical in both versions. When quoting from the book of Esther here, I will use a translation more modern and easier to absorb than the Douay-Rheims translation – and it is a translation of the shorter version of the book. That means that for the sake of brevity and focus we will not get into the content of the additional chapters beyond the core of the story.
About the institution of the festival of Purim, we read in the book of Esther the following account:
“Mordecai recorded these events and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, urging them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar every year as the days when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into celebration. These were to be days of feasting, celebration and sending presents of food to one another and giving gifts to the poor. So the Jews agreed to continue the commemoration they had begun, and do what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur – that is, the lot – to ruin and destroy them. But when it came to the king‘s attention, he issued a written edict that the wicked scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. (For this reason, these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Therefore because of everything in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, the Jews established and took upon themselves, upon their descendants, and upon all who joined with them, that they would commemorate these two days in the way prescribed and at the appointed time every year. These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family and in every province and every city. These days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor their remembrance perish from their descendants.“
Esther 9: 20-28
In the book of Esther, we once again encounter a story with so many layers and such a skillful narration of the plot that it is quite impossible to dive into it all. The story is about so many things: about two queens, one falling from height and honor, one rising to height and honor (Queen Vashti and Queen Esther), about two contesting worldviews (the Persian – pagan – worldview and the worldview of the Hebrews, of the Jews), about male violence and the objectification of women, and about the basic fabric of antisemitism, and so much more. Let us focus mainly on the woman after whom the book is named: on Esther.
Esther the Queen, and Haman‘s rage
Esther is not queen, able to intercede for her people in times of tribulation, right away. The book tells us that she grows up as an orphan raised by her uncle Mordecai from the tribe of Benjamin, living in the Persian city of Shushan. The events take place several hundred years after King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and destroyed and plundered the first Jewish temple built by King Solomon. There are Jews living dispersed throughout the vast Persian empire. Esther is a very beautiful young woman, which is why she is brought by force into the king‘s palace after Queen Vashti‘s fall from grace: King Ahasuerus, who enjoys a vast harem of concubines, is looking for a new queen – and it shall be “the young woman who pleases the king“ (Esther 2: 4).
Because what do you do as the king of Persia in those days when there is a vacant queen position? You do not publish a romantic announcement in “Sushan Daily” reading that a handsome high potential leader is looking for an understanding, supportive, lovely wife with a little taste of uniqueness and household managing qualities on top. No, not really. Instead you appoint commissioners in every province and endow them with the task of catching the most beautiful virgins right from the streets and bringing them into the king’s harem to be prepared for a night with him. And then, after you have enjoyed yourself with each one of them, you, the king, choose your favorite one, of course. So a huge casting show is run in looking for the next queen, and we are made aware of women’s place in the Persian worldview: objects of a man’s desire.
For a whole year, the women get prepared to be finally pretty enough for a night with the king, once it was their turn to make him feel good: “six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and women’s cosmetics“ (Esther 2: 12). Your life’s purpose, your job description: becoming more beautiful in accordance with the king’s personal taste and expectations and preparing yourself to either end up as one of his concubines or as a concubine with a crown on top, that is a queen… Just imagine: for a whole year nothing but bubble baths and oil masks. For some this might be a dream come true, for others just plain boring and excruciating. Let us imagine Esther as the kind of girl a little bit too smart and too curious to really enjoy meditating on the effect of myrrh on the softness of your skin day after day. Then a year of nothing but beauty treatments can be really long, right?
At the palace, no one knows that Esther is Jewish. Mordecai tells her to hide her true identity. It is bad enough for a young Jewish girl to end up in the harem of the wrong kind of king instead of marrying a God-fearing man. But at least she can survive there if she hides who she truly is… Esther continues “to follow Mordecai‘s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up“ (Esther 2: 20).
In the end, she becomes the queen of Persia. How did she do it, how did she triumph over all the other women in this big casting show? We are told that she “won favor in the eyes of all who saw her” (Esther 2: 15) and that the king “loved Esther more than all the other women, and she won his grace and favor more than all the other virgins“ (Esther 2: 17). And we understand that, much more than the results of all the skin peeling and special diet, there’s probably personal charisma radiating, emanating from within at work here – enchanting even this king, who up to this point in the story seemed to never tire of women completely regardless of their personality, as long as they are pretty and not rebelling against him like Queen Vashti did.
So Esther is a queen now according to the Persian understanding of being one: outwardly beautiful and favored by the king. But some time later, Mordecai will say to her these famous words:
“Who knows whether you have attained royal status for such a time as this?”
Esther 4: 14
And in this way, he reminds her of her real calling, and of the Hebrew or Jewish side of things: of God’s providence in taking care of His people and their personal responsibility in partnering with Him in that. He points her to being favored by the real King to contribute to the unfolding of His plans. About which time is Mordecai talking? The time of Haman’s plot to destroy the Jewish people throughout all the provinces of Persia…
“Some time later King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, elevating him and setting his chair above all the officials who were with him. All the king‘s servants who were at the king‘s gate bowed down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded it. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay him honor. (…)
Esther 3: 1-9
When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing down or paying him honor, Haman was filled with rage. But it was repugnant in his eyes to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him the identity of Mordecai‘s people. So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdowm of Ahasuerus. In the first month (that is the month of Nisan), in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast the pur (that is, ‘the lot‘) in the presence of Haman from day to day and month to month, up to the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
Haman then said to King Ahasuerus: ‘There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose laws differ from those of every other people and who do not obey the king‘s laws. It is not in the king‘s interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let an edict be written to destroy them. I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who carry out this business, to put it into the king‘s treasuries.‘“
Haman is one of the king’s nobles and called “the Agatite” in the account of the events. That is telling, because it means that he is a descendant of the royal line of the Amalekites, whose king was called Agag. And the Amalekites are one of the ancient enemies of Israel, back from those days when the children of Israel entered into the promised land.
So hatred from of old seems to run in Haman’s veins, as handed down to him from his ancestors. And the one that vexes him is this Jew Mordecai, who refuses to kneel before him and pay honor to him, as was commanded by the king. Daniel style, if you remember the story of Daniel in Babylon: a non-compliant Jew again who will not kneel before mere men.
Haman plunges into rage over that matter and his hatred is one generalized against this peculiar kind of people altogether. They are different. They seem to serve a different king. They are not merging with our culture at large, are a constant source of discord and imminent cultural critique. So let us get rid off them.
And king Ahasuerus, a somehow weak king easily influenced by his advisers as the story shows us over and over again, gives his signet ring – his power – to Haman, so he may do as he pleases. Such, the decree about the destruction of all Jews throughout the empire is issued, and the day of doom proclaimed…
Esther‘s fears, her humility and courage
Throughout all provinces, the Jewish people fast and mourn in response to the threat of destruction lingering over them, in response to the plans of their enemies. All of them, including Mordecai, Esther‘s uncle.
“When Mordecai learned all that was done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city crying out in a loud and bitter voice. (…) When Esther‘s maids and eunuchs came and told her, the queen was greatly distressed. She sent clothes for Mordecai to put on so he would remove his sackcloth, but he refused.“
Esther 4: 1-4
We see that Esther seems to live in her own bubble behind golden bars, inside the palace of a king that has just handed governmental affairs over to Haman, the fierce enemy of her people, while she is not aware of what’s going on behind the scenes and in the real world beyond the walls of the king‘s harem. Though she is queen, she is only in the king’s presence when he explicitly summons her from among all the hundreds of concubines to come to him. The Persians indeed know nothing of marriage as an intimate covenantal relationship between one man and one woman…
Finally the word about the issued decree and its content reaches Esther as well, as Mordecai sends her a copy of the edict and asks her to beg the king for mercy. A discussion begins between the queen and her fasting and mourning uncle, and if anyone of us happened to be a playwright, this conversation between Esther and Mordecai about the ethical implications of her position with access to the most powerful man in the Persian empire would surely be made into the key scene and dramatic climax in Act III…
Esther reminds Mordecai of a Persian law forbidding any man or woman to come into the king’s presence without having been called by him. And if you dare approach, he might let you be put to death – unless he extends his scepter in an incalculable act of random mercy brought forth by his momentary wit. In her years at the palace, Esther has learned all there is to learn about the Persian empire, about the world as it is seen through Persian eyes and structured by Persian rules.
Mordecai sends back an answer to her that points to a different kind of world: a world, in which the deliverance for the Jews will surely come through the saving acts of a constantly faithful God. A world in which Esther can and must choose her way: denying her identity and all solidarity with her people in trying to save herself, or exposing her identity and venturing out in solidarity with her people with faith and courage – contributing to a story of deliverance that will unfold, with or without her, according to God’s providence – and in doing so putting her life on risk. Yet in Mordecai’s world, things can be done that usually, according to all the rules of Persia, just cannot be done: Plans made by men like Haman can be thwarted by an authority much higher than any Haman with a signet ring.
And so Esther suddenly has a choice to make, where before there was none, as the discussion with her uncle brought to light the inescapable crossroads about which every Jew and everyone else can read in one of the books of the Torah, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 30: There is a way of life and there is a way of death set before us, one that leads to good and one that lends to evil.
Esther makes her choice, and urges Mordecai to gather together the whole Jewish community of Shushan for three days and nights of fasting – three days of intercession for her, who has resolved to intercede for her people.
Though Esther struggles with her fears, we can clearly see her as an example of both humility and courage. Over and over again she humbly submits herself to her uncle and his advice – and to the God of her people, knowing that in the end only He can save them. And it is exactly this humility that eventually imbues her with the virtue of courage overcoming her fear of death:
“Esther sent this reply to Mordecai, ‘Go! Gather together all the Jews who are in Shushan and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast in the same way. Afterwards, I will go in to the king, even though it is not according to the law. So if I perish, I perish!‘“
Esther 4: 15-16
Self-sacrificially stepping into the breach for her people is the moment of her life, and we may be reminded of the story of Judith the Widow saving Israel from Holofernes. But while Judith the Widow for years is patient and persevering in the poverty of widowhood and of a life of fasting and praying, Esther the Queen lives through years of comfort, pleasure and abundance at the king‘s court. Yet those years of a “golden cage“ are not able to erase her Hebrew, her Jewish identity, do not succeed in turning her heart away from her God and her people, and do not lead her into pride, haughtiness and an unwillingness to take hardship, suffering and sacrifice upon herself when the time for it has come. Judith the Widow and Esther the Queen stand for two very different settings and surroundings in which we can find ourselves – poverty and obscurity, or prosperity and honor – , and for the very same faithfulness to God and His people through it all.
“(…) for whatever circumstance I am in, I have learned to be content. I know what it is to live with humble means, and I know what it is to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of contentment – both to be filled and to go hungry, to have abundance and to suffer need. I can do all things through Messiah who strengthens me.“
Philippians 4: 11-13
Go and read the story of Esther. There is even more to it than what was covered here… Purim sameach!