Today's Daily Lesson comes from Esther chapter 7 verses 1 through 3:
So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered . . .
Esther's story is a great tale demonstrating female agency in a very patriarchal society. Esther, who because of her physical beauty rises to the role of Queen (among an apparent host of other queens/concubines) demonstrates that she has more than good looks. She also has brains, shrewdly navigating the political world of the royal palace, and she has guts. She is the model of a woman of deep wisdom and courageous faith.
The most memorable line in the book of Esther is given not to Esther but to her cousin Mordecai as he pleads with her to act on behalf of their Jewish people by addressing the King. "And who knows," Mordecai says to Esther, "but that you have come to this royal position for just such time as this." The line is Mordecai's; but the venture is Esther's. She rises to the occasion.
Like I said, Esther is a story about agency -- and not just female agency, but really human agency. Agency requires choice. Esther inspires and challenges us to make the hard choice to speak up, to get involved, to risk boldly rather thank slink away into the shadows. We all have our Esther moments when we are presented with a choice of whether to speak up or remain silent, stand up or keep sitting. Esther stood up and she spoke and it saved her people. And the lesson for all of us is the fact that sometimes just one courageous voice can tip the scales of justice.
The Jewish holiday of Purim commemorates Esther's action in saving her people from the evil machinations of Haman. It's often a raucous affair full of comedic reenactments of the Esther story, sometimes (I've heard) even in drag. Ha man's name is always jeered. I went to a Purim festival at our local synagogue a few years back. The script was Esther at a kind of teen melodrama set at the equivalent of Bayside High. Esther's people were "Saved by the Bell". It was hilarious for those of us who grew up in the 90s. Drag was not involved but I did see some 60 year old men squeezed into letter jackets earned at much fewer poundage.
But besides that unforgettable image, the other unforgettable takeaway I had was this question -- what does it do for a people to yearly be reminded of Esther's story, to be reminded that you are a part of a people who were almost wiped out, save for the courage of one? And then this unavoidable question, if I were the one, if I were Esther, what would I have done?
In other words, the Purim play had me to ask, what would I have done in just such a time as that? And, more to the point, what will I do in just such a time a this?
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