Echoes of Purim

This past weekend, in communities around the world, the Jewish people celebrated the empowering, ridiculous, provocative, and wonderful holiday of Purim. Each year, as my congregation takes on the responsibility of reading the Book of Esther, I look forward to hearing my favorite parts of the story: namely, the moments when two very different (and yet, in some important ways, very similar) women embrace their power and stand up to the person who threatens their lives, their spirits, and their identities.

Queen Vashti has been a favorite character of mine for as long as I can remember, and while she was not a Jewish heroine, she was and is a hero for many Jewish people including me. She was placed in a position of vulnerability by her spouse, the king, and she stood up for herself, demanded the respect that she was owed as queen, and rejected the king’s order. Her action gave her so much influence and power, that the king and his advisors were left scrambling to find ways to reinforce the status quo. They finally concluded that the only option was to banish the queen in order for her punishment to be an example for all women in the kingdom, “Then will the judgment executed by Your Majesty resound throughout your realm, vast though it is; and all wives will treat their husbands with respect, high and low alike.” (Esther 1:20)

The woman who ultimately succeeded in upsetting the established power structure in Shushan was Queen Esther. Over the course of the story, her physical journey mirrored her emotional one. She was a young, orphaned girl in a far-flung village who found herself, by luck and happenstance, in the royal harem in the king’s palace. Esther then moved even closer to the center of power when she embraced her position as queen and her responsibilities to her people and decided to approach the king without an invitation. Esther saved her people in Shushan and her character is one that contemporary adults and children of all genders can be proud to honor as a true hero.

This year, the Reform Movement encouraged us to share the ways that we try to #BeLikeEsther – namely, how we have chosen to be upstanders and not bystanders in our own lives. In a world where far too many are silenced and far too few are given the opportunity to embrace their identities and power, Purim is the holiday that reminds us that the least likely person can be the one to create the most change.

Now that we have celebrated, eaten our hamentashen, and shaken our groggers, my hope is that we will continue to embrace the charge to be like Esther and like Vashti – using our voices to advocate for just causes and our empathy to honor the spirits of all people.