THE TRUE HEROINE OF PURIM

 

Esther is considered by most people as the symbolic heroine of Purim. She courageously stood up for her people, our people. However, there is another woman who will stand up for all women, Jew or gentile, the worldwide over.

                        

   THE TRUE HEROINE OF PURIM

 Esther is considered by most people as the emblematic heroine of the Purim story. After much wringing of the hands, Esther confesses to her gentile husband that she is a Jew, and most importantly she stands up for the Jewish people. However, there is another woman who will stand up for all women, Jew or gentile, the worldwide over.

The story of Purim found in the Book of Esther begins in the Persian city of Shushan.  The year is 427 BCE, during the 3^rd year of King Achashverosh the son of Cyrus the Great.

(As an aside, not germane to “The True Heroine of Purim”: The 427 BCE date is based on a verse from the Book of Esther, Chapter 2: Vere 5 – which introduces us to Mordechai who was exiled by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar along with the king of Judea and 3,000 other Judeans in the year 598 BCE. Mordechai is at least 71 years old when the Purim story begins.)

In the 3^rd year of his reign, Achashverosh made a 180-day feast for all of the leaders of his vast empire, including military and civilians alike. At the conclusion of this feast he initiated a seven-day drinking celebration just for the nobles and his followers in Shushan. It was held in the palace. The king showed off his wealth. The participants drank wine from a vast horde of golden goblets, and no two goblets were alike.  The king was easy going; you could drink as much as you wanted, there was no arm twisting, no coercion.

On the 7th day of the Wine Drinking fest, Achashverosh, quite drunk, wanted to show off one of his special "possessions" to the attendees.

He ordered seven of his eunuchs to bring the very beautiful Queen Vashti, to the banquet hall where no doubt she would be displayed and most likely ogled and humiliated by the drunken male attendees. Vashti to her credit, refused the king's command as delivered by the eunuchs. Achashverosh became incensed, livid with rage. How dare a woman stand up before him.

But Achashverosh was flummoxed; he did not know what to do. So he turned to his most senior advisors for advice and a course of action. Achashverosh was then advised to dethrone Vashti and repossess her royal estate. It was to be given to some other noblewoman, better than Vashti who would be a more compliant wife. And of course, that woman turned out to be none other than our Queen Esther.

Achashverosh was further advised to issue a decree throughout his empire declaring his actions, so that all women in the empire would learn a lesson and honor and obey their husbands. The decree was translated and transcribed into each language and script of the empire. enabling every man in the empire to be "master in his own house." What a shameful lot.

Vasti was a pioneer. Way before her time she courageously heralded women’s rights, not just for one group of women, but for women worldwide.