This is a guest post, written by my ten-year-old, Abi. She is a novice writer. This is Abi’s first public piece of writing. She let me make a few suggestions and help with punctuation. Enjoy… Dr. Jessica Ann Hughes
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Esther. I’ve always thought she was a goody-two shoes in a tiara. My mom was taught that Esther was a bad example, given the harem, her preference for her Persian name, and all the violence at the end of the story. But we’ve both been reconsidering Esther this week.
This weekend is Purim, a two-day holiday dedicated to a girl whose courage and determination saved herself and her people. And she isn’t a bad example…As Atticus Finch tells Scout “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Imagine yourself in Esther’s shoes. She finds out there is a plot to kill all the Jews in the empire, all because Haman wanted revenge on her uncle, Mordecai. And what did Mordecai do? He had refused to bow down to Haman because he only bowed down to God. To get revenge, Haman tricked the king—the husband forced on Esther—into making a plan to kill all the Jews. So Esther was on the verge of losing everything with less than a footstep between herself and death. How desperate would you be? What actions would you take?
Maybe it was all a coincidence but perhaps Esther being forced into the king’s harem was God’s doing. That’s what her uncle, Mordecai told her—perhaps God had put her in the palace for a time like this, to save her people. Personally, I know how Esther probably felt…
Image Credits:
Esther, from the TV Series Superbook, Season 2, Episode 5
Esther: For Such a Time as This.
Hamantaschen Cookies.
Baked & photographed by A.K. Hughes & @DrJessHughes
In Summer 2019 we moved away from the only place I have ever called home. As soon as I arrived at this new place I was devastated and racked with guilt. How could I love a place without betraying my first home? My only home. My mom tried to convince me, oh how she tried! But this new place felt like exile. Usually when someone says that they took something to heart it’s a good thing. I, however, took my hatred for this new place and cultivated it, growing it and expanding it until it ran through my veins. Okay, that’s a little dramatic but you get the point. But I realized that fitting into this new place isn’t betrayal, it’s just life, it’s survival. Esther wasn’t betraying her people by taking a new name—she was just trying to live where she was.
But back to the story…Esther heard about the king’s plan to kill her people and took her uncle’s words to heart. After fasting and preparing herself, it was time to butter-up the king. Literally. With a few feasts!
Esther is amazing. In a moment of despair—knowing that she’s about to watch her people die—she uses the little bit of authority she has as one of the king’s wives and decides to talk to him. Talking to your husband should most certainly NOT be a life and death situation. But for Esther it was. If the king decided not to accept her approach, then it was off with her head! And unlike Disney’s classic fairytales, there was no dashing prince to save her.
Instead Esther summoned all of her courage and skills and approached the king. Of course, doing all of this made Esther feel even more out of place, as she should! She’s in exile from her real home, she has changed her name so she feels a bit more connected to the foreign place, she isn’t even at the palace by choice, and now she’s risking her life to keep her people from being annihilated!
Finally, she asked him her one request “Please, don’t massacre my people.” The king had no clue that she was a Jew and was confused.
“Wha-what do you mean?”
“The Jews. please don’t kill them,” Esther begged.
“Then..what should we do instead?”
Esther thought for a moment before saying, “Well..what if the Jews killed all of your people instead?”
“Okay, whatever” the king replied, not grasping her words or even worrying about them.
So the Jews celebrated, they had been granted permission to massacre the people enslaving them. The person who had ordered the Jews to be killed—Haman—was replaced by Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, and Haman’s head was mounted on a stake out side the castle. No dashing prince, no perilous climb up magical hair, no fairy god mother who dressed up Esther for a ball arrived to save her. All Esther had was her guts and brain and using these skills she saved her people.
Some people don’t like the violence at the end of the story, when “happily ever after” becomes “we massacred everyone ever after.” How is this ending okay? Well, let me ask you a question. In Harry Potter how do you feel when Mrs. Weasley blasts Bellatrix to bits? How do you feel when Voldemort is defeated by his own curse that backfires (just like Haman’s planned curse that gets reversed)? Or how do you feel when the Death Star gets blown to smithereens? For a Star Wars fan—for the entire rebelliion—it’s like, “Who hoo! The bad guys are defeated!”
So in Esther’s story, isn’t that the same? When the Persians are defeated—when their evil plans backfire—I feel happy because it fits the type of story it is. But also, the Bible often gives us more questions than answers, which is what makes it interesting and a conversation starter.
And that’s what we had last night…we retold Esther during our Shabbat dinner and we ate Hamantaschen.
These shortbread cookies have the bad guy’s name in the first half of the word, so people decided to make baking and eating these triangular jam-filled sweets into a tradition. During the holiday of Purim, which is Esther’s holiday, people prepare the Hamantaschen and read the story of Esther, reminding themselves that you don’t need to be a mermaid, or be locked in a tower, or fall in love with a beast, or be part of an intergalactic rebellion, or even be a wizard to save your people.
A.K.Hughes
Follow-Up Post: Is the Bible Safe for Sunday School?
Read what happens when Esther’s story is taught by a Camp Counsellor to one of my daughters’ friends who sat-in on our Bible Reading Group.
https://jessicaannhughes.com/2021/07/17/is-the-bible-safe-for-sunday-school/
Amazing!!!
Well done, Abi! This is such a thoughtful, well-written post!
Dear A.K.Hughes,
Thank you for helping me see new layers in what is for me an old story, which I have encountered so many times. Once I even heard someone say from a pulpit that the book of Esther should be excised from the canon! I wish that person, who I think fancied him/herself to be speaking a liberating word, had had the opportunity to read your post. You have helped to show how this narrative, like many other parts of the Bible, is as profound and full of meaning for today as it is perplexing.
Two points, especially, stood out to me in your beautiful essay:
Esther shows us how to make the best of being forced into a difficult situation. Or–to borrow from the Apostle Paul–she shows us how God’s power is made perfect in weakness. The way you connected this gospel truth about Esther’s life to your own move across the country helped me to appreciate it in a new way.
And the end of this story shows us what evil is like–it destroys, disintegrates, and self-destructs. As you say, what happened to Haman fits the kind of story it is. What happened to Haman is also so realistic. This is the insidious way evil works. It destroys its own perpetrators. Your examples show that so compellingly.
Your post has left me inspired!–to be more like Esther, and to avoid the pitiful fate of Haman–in big ways, and also in small daily ways.
Thank you!
A.K. Hughes! Well done!! I really enjoyed reading your writing on Esther and Purim. I’ve always loved Esther’s story and her courage, her willingness to do something very difficult to advocate for others and her recognition that she was at the right place at the right time for a reason. You have amazing insights that you shared here and in a very engaging and creative style. You introduced me to the traditional Purim cookies bearing Haman’s name. I had never heard of them.
I’m excited to read more of your work in the future. Felicidades!!
Abi, we loved this post! I just read it together with my HSC Studies of Religion class as we ate Hamantaschen and talked about Jewish festivals. My students really enjoyed your insights and your explanations and your striking turn of phrase. ‘When “happily ever after” becomes “we massacred everyone ever after.”’ Is a pretty evocative line! We found it really helpful for giving a summary of the action of Esther (especially for those students less familiar with the Bible) and also really helpful for understanding the story and why it might continue to be celebrated despite our polite reservations. Your analogies comparing the death of Haman to the death of Voldemort really resonated – what a great parallel to draw between these two bad guys, ultimately caught in their own nets. And the general emotional response we have when the bad guys are defeated in any story – that was great to be reminded of as we maybe felt a little iffy about celebrating violence.
It’s safe to say that your Hamantaschen look a lot more authentic than mine! I just bought some short-crust pastry from the supermarket and filled a few with jam (traditional but too sticky!), some with dulce de leche (they were ok) and most with this spread that’s make of crushed biscuits (those ones were pretty delicious!).
Thanks for sharing your insights in such an engaging and easy-to-understand way. We really appreciate you educating us!
Cheers,
HSC Studies of Religion, Blackheath