Angry at Esther - God's Defender

I was discussing Megillat Esther with someone who expressed strong negative feelings that surprised me.

This person, a religious Jew who grew up in a rather different environment, every year becomes upset when he listens to the book of Esther being read, because there is no mention of God's name. He feels indignant, offended by the fact that Esther and Mordechai did not pray or give thanks to God for the miracles vouchsafed to them.

"The Torah makes it clear that it is always about God. We are to praise God and worship God," he protested. "What on earth is this?!?" He even suggested that we were punished with (longer) exile due to this egregious omission on the part of Esther and Mordechai. 

I found his defense of God moving, but of course I had my explanations at the ready. It's impossible that Esther and Mordechai omitted mention of God by accident, or due to any beliefs that the miracle of Purim came about accidentally/through human agency only. And the fact that the rabbis include the megillah and made Purim into a significant festival obviously validates Esther and Mordechai as people of faith.

But my conversational partner remained unconvinced and angry. This was the first time I had ever had such a conversation, and I must confess it came as quite a surprise. What I appreciated about it though was the absolute incomprehension of how you could have a religious text without God in it - no matter what the reason. 

I think since I've grown up with Esther for my entire life, I've always accepted the explanation that the book represents God's working in hidden ways. I find meaning in that message. Yet why should we accept that so easily - why indeed should there be a scroll in which God's name does not appear at all?

Yes, let us question that, let us be indignant for God's honour. Perhaps every year God awaits our zealousness for the divine name, to return it to centre stage. And perhaps every year, God sighs and shrugs upon seeing how facilely we accept the hiding of the divine. All of us, that is, except for my friend, who saves the day. Hmm.

Megillat Esther - The Great Chess Game

Chess came to Persia very early in its history. 

To me the megillah feels like a chess game. 

Player A: King Achashverosh, queen Vashti, knight Haman.

Player B: King G-d, queen Esther, knight Mordechai.

  

Player A's queen is knocked out very early in the game (BAD move) and that player then tries to get a variety of pawns to become a new queen. Unsuccessfully though: in the end, player B gets her queen (Esther) in among A's pieces.

This queen (Esther) starts causing havoc, along with her knight (Mordechai). In the end, she massacres A's pawns (Haman's sons and allies). She also uses A's own knight (Haman) to create a close to checkmate situation (1st party), followed by true checkmate (2nd party and the overturning of the decree).

P.s. Checkmating G-d was never really on the table 😉
And of course G-d is not just the King, but is also the player. 

Chanoch/Noach and Yuval/Levi

In this Times of Israel post I suggested that Chanoch and his grandson Noach share a trait, that has been passed down in partial form ("If you look at the letters of Hanoch (Het Nun Vav Chaf), Noah shares only two of them (Nun Het).")

חנוך

נח

Recently it struck me that the same might be argued for another ancestor and descendant: Yuval and Levi.

Yuval is called "the father all who played the lyre and pipe" (Genesis 4:20-21). In other words, the progenitor or father of music. Levi is a very musical tribe, who end up being the singers in the Temple. And the letters of Yuval's name partially descend into Levi:

יובל

לוי

Oholiav the Assistant

When God appoints Betzalel as the Chief Architect of the Mishkan, he also appoints Oholiav son of Achisamach to assist him. Oholiav is an engraver, and a skilful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen. He is from the tribe of Dan. Rashi on Exodus 35:34 notes that this tribe is one of the lowliest tribes of Israel (while Betzelel hailed from Judah, the tribe of the kings).

Is there a significance to the tribe of Dan, in terms of Oholiav's job? One of my talented Bibliodrama participants, Joanne Jackson Yelenik, pointed out that the blessing that Jacob gives to Dan on his deathbed is (Gen: 49:17): 

17. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

Joanne suggested that, just as Dan was there to be the vanguard of the camp, Oholiav was there to clean up the mess and make sure nothing fell by the way. Following her lead in looking at Jacob's blessings, I suggested a further role, using the image of the snake biting the horse's heels.

The evil inclination, or ego, could be compared to a rider on a horse. It tries to ride us and control us. Along comes the snake, and though smaller, is able to bite the heels of the horse and throw the rider. It is not a pleasant experience for the horse, but at least the rider is off its back. 

Perhaps, then, Oholiav's job was to make sure that Betzalel, of the kingly tribe and given the prestigious job of the Chief Architect of the Mishkan, did not for a moment slide into ego. That would be an inappropriate energy to enter via his hands into the vessels of the Mishkan. 

Shadow Selves in Megillat Esther

In chapter 1 of the book of Esther, we meet King Achashverosh and Queen Vashti. In chapter 2, we meet a second pair, a second man and woman: Mordechai and Esther. 

The King is a fool. He is drunk. He is out of control. His impulsive demands lead to dire consequences. The Queen is independant-minded and disobedient. 

These two represent the exact opposite to the man and woman we meet in chapter 2:

Mordechai is very careful and controlled. He instructs Esther not to reveal her Jewish identity. He walks in front of the harem, trying to gather information about Esther, because without information he cannot control the situation. He commands Esther in chapter 4 to go into the king. He is in control of himself, and he is in control of Esther.

Esther is obedient. She does what Mordechai commands her. 

Achashverosh and Vashti represent their Shadow selves, the selves that Mordechai and Esther push down out of sight - though they are still there, working away in the subconscious. But as the story progresses, the Shadow selves emerge.

Esther ceases to simply obey Mordechai. She does not rebel, but she does take matters into her own hands and begin to implement her own plan. When this happens, Mordechai is no longer in control - he cedes control to Esther and ultimately to the Divine Providence that brings Haman knocking at the King's door that fateful night. 

When working with our Shadow selves, the parts of us that frighten us or are not known to our conscious minds, the idea is not to go to the other extreme and transform into that self (lack of control, wild rebellion etc). It is rather to bring them up in such a way that they are healthily integrated into the rest of our personality, and we are no longer afraid of being that way.

*This insight was gained while doing Bibliodrama, Adar 5782.