The Jewish Architects of Opera
3 min read
I read a post by a non-Orthodox Rabbi who claimed that Megillat Esther is really a secular work. Not only is God’s name never mentioned, but there is almost no mention of Jewish life or practice in the Megillah. Some examples he gave were the fact that the Jews participated in Ahasuerus’s feast, seemingly indifferent to the fact that they were eating non-kosher food and drinking Gentile wine. Even after the decree we don’t find Mordechai and other Jews praying or gathering in their synagogues (if they had any), only wearing sackcloth and ashes. Esther likewise has the residents of Shushan fast for three days but never seems to pray to God. Even after the victory, the Megillah writes that the Jews celebrated but didn’t seem to offer prayers of thanksgiving. How would you respond to this?
In one sense it is true that the Jewish people as a whole did not seem to be particularly religious during the Purim story. They had already spread entirely throughout Ahasuerus’s huge empire in a relatively short time – in a span of about two generations – no doubt in search of commerce and wealth, and seemingly with little concern for religious life and community. The Jews had apparently assimilated fairly quickly. And the writer is correct that their willingness to attend Ahasuerus’s non-kosher feast also paints an image of a people which gave higher priority to their acceptance by the Gentiles than their religious observance.
However, in spite of that backdrop, Megillat Esther is actually a very spiritual book – describing how Mordechai and Esther heroically stemmed the Jewish people’s assimilative tendencies and led them to a strengthened Jewish identity and repentance – a repentance which averted Haman’s decree and brought about the Purim salvation. It’s fairly easy to see this in the storyline itself, even without the much more profound interpretations of the Talmud and Midrash – which are many. Here are a few key points which most strongly highlight this:
(1) Mordechai refused to bow down to Haman (Esther 3:2). This was clearly religiously motivated.
(2) Haman, when he went to convince the king to annihilate the Jews, pointed out that their laws are different from the laws of all other peoples (3:8). So clearly, the Jewish people as a whole were somewhat observant, provoking Haman’s anger.
(3) When Haman’s decree is publicized, the Jews all turn to mourning, fasting, and crying, wearing sackcloth and ashes (4:3). Although the word prayer does not explicitly appear, these are clearly acts of penitence. Obviously, such acts were directed toward God, since for a secular person, they would serve absolutely no purpose.
(4) Esther sees that Mordechai is publicly mourning and cannot enter the palace compound in sackcloth. She sends him nicer clothes to enable him to enter but he refuses to accept them (4:4). Now if Mordechai wanted to avert the decree through practical means, he would have contacted Esther at once. But he recognized that the only way to save the Jews was through turning to God – even at the expense of being able to reach the Queen.
(5) Esther likewise decrees a three-day fast (4:16) – surely another act of repentance. In fact, the commentators explain that this atoned for their participation in Ahasuerus’s forbidden feast.
(6) At the end of the story, Mordechai and Esther instituted Purim as a religious holiday to be observed for all generations. The Jews accepted it as they accepted the fast days they were already observing (see espec. end of Ch. 9).
It is thus clear that Megillat Esther is at its heart a very spiritual story. The Jews were lax, they were threatened with extermination, and they repented – averting the decree against them. And they lastly eternally commemorated the salvation with a new Jewish holiday.
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