Adina Roth – Director of Jewish Life

Esther, so much more than a pretty face

This year, the entire High School listened to the reading of the Megillah of Esther, read and chanted by students! It was a spirited affair as we cheered and booed for the various characters in the story and even hummed ‘here comes the bride’ for Esther. At the very end, a thoughtful student came up to me and said how much she had enjoyed it. ‘But,’ she said…’couldn’t we do better than here comes the bride for Esther… surely, her role is so much more in the story than the wife of Achashverosh?’ Her gently expressed critique touched me! We might say it’s a great time to be a woman! Barbie’s recent movie has helped to celebrate feminism in a range of ways. Barbies were also all aglitter and aglow at Emanuel’s Purim this week as teachers and staff donned the pink (and signature Ken blue) to celebrate woman power! But for all the celebrations, there was at least one seemingly powerful woman in the world last week who was not able to get what she needed most. I am referring to Princess Catherine of Windsor, who was compelled to make a public statement telling the world that she had cancer and requesting that people give her space. There was something very moving about Catherine sharing her illness with the world and then begging the world to leave her be.  

While the story of Purim explores the oldest anti-semitism, it is also about women navigating their way in a patriarchal environment. Esther, whose beauty is described in the Megillah, is forced into a beauty pageant and has to parade before King Achashverosh. The story explores how Esther manages to retain some power in these demeaning circumstances: When it was Esther’s turn to present herself to the king, she applied the minimal amount of beauty products, thus playing down her beauty. This conveys to us that Esther retains some control as to how she appears before the king even as she is forced to present herself to him. Similarly, we are told in the text that Esther did not tell anyone that she was Jewish, she held onto this secret and only tells the king when she decides it is time to do so. In an environment where she has very little agency, Esther determines ‘how’ she will present herself to the king and she decides ‘what’ she will reveal to him at different times. It is these small acts of resistance which I imagine allowed Esther to retain some dignity in a terrible situation. Sometimes, small acts of resistance are all we have. As the story progresses, more is asked of Esther and Mordechai challenges her to intercede before the king on behalf of the Jewish people. While Esther is terrified, she rises to the occasion. Princess Catherine showed us this past week that the mass media of the 21^st century can be as ruthless as a 5^th century BCE Persian beauty harem, demanding big reveals and essentially treating women as public property. 

From Vashti, to Esther, to Catherine to any of us, we encounter small and more major assaults on our dignity and freedom all the time, sometimes without even realising it. Perhaps even my singing ‘here comes the bride,’ perpetuated an untrue stereotype of Esther which she herself breaks in the story! Esther reminds us that there are ways to hold onto your power in the face of demeaning circumstances. In fact, like the student who came up and questioned the choice of the ditty, there are many modern day Esthers who are using their voices within and beyond the Jewish community to speak up for themselves and for women in general.

Purim reminds us that some societal struggles are as old as time. Barbie may be on the rise but women are still objectified in many ways in our culture. Esther remains an icon of how to navigate difficult times and use our voices. She is much more than just a bride with a pretty face! We all are!

Shabbat Shalom