Esther – A Woman’s View of TANACH

24 Adar A 5779

La Toilette d'Esther, originally Théodore Chassériau, 1841. I found it here.

by Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher

When Esther sent the Sages her request, "Write my story for future generations," they responded, "Forget it, you are arousing jealousy between us and the United Nations" (Talmud Megilla 6).

The Sages’ response is puzzling. Since when do we censor TANACH because of what the UN and the EU will say?

As the Torah states, "What nation is so great that they have such righteous rules and laws?" (Devarim 4). G-D set us apart through His Torah and Mitzvot, thus highlighting our moral superiority over all the nations. Would we ever consider hiding our Torah so as not to arouse jealousy among the nations? What then was the debate between Esther and the Sages?

We can understand the Sages’ response according to their time. When they lived, new books were still being added to TANACH, and Esther was asking that her scroll, as well, should be included in the Bible. It is very interesting that in the Dead Sea Scrolls all of the Books of TANACH are there, except the Scroll of Esther. Our Sages had their own yard stick for what should or should not be included in TANACH.

As the Talmud in Megilla 14 states, "May prophets arose in Israel, twice as many as the number of Jews who left Egypt. Yet, only prophecies needed for all future generations were included in TANACH, and those not needed were excluded." The debate between Esther and the Sages was - Is or Is not Megillat Esther relevant to all future generations?

According to the Sages, the Purim story could not be classified as "needed for future generations", because until Haman, there was no precedent for genocide. Thus, the Purim story seemed to be a one-time event such that no one could ever imagine it recurring.

It is true that the Jewish People had known persecutions and suffering, for example Pharaoh in Egypt, who decreed, "Every boy who was born must be cast into the Nile" (Shemot 1). Then there was Amalek who terrorized Israel in the desert, Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed the Holy Temple, and all the other enemies of Israel.

Yet, such an "insane" decree as Haman's, "to destroy and exterminate all Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day" (Esther 3), the Jews of Esther's day had never known such a decree of genocide. The Sages, based on their past experience, viewed this genocidal plot as an insane one-time event that would never repeat itself. Therefore, they held that the Bible should not include Megillat Esther. For the Sages, it was a prophecy irrelevant for future generations of Israel.

However, Esther was one of the 7 prophetesses who prophesied to Israel (Talmud Megilla 14). Prophecy is not based on past historical events. Prophecy looks to the future, transcending the limits of time and place.

Esther, with her prophecy, looked into the future of the Jewish People, and knew that the Purim story would NOT be a one-time event. Rather, Haman's evil plot would tragically repeat itself many times throughout the bitter and sad history of the Jewish People.

Through her prophecy, Esther knew that a long and harsh exile awaited us among the nations, an exile whose end could not be seen on the horizon. It was an exile in which the Jews would face terror, persecutions, unimaginable suffering, and the Holocaust.

We would see ourselves as drowning in an endless sea of sorrow and persecution, and in desperate need of a life-raft.

Such a life-raft is Megillat Esther, for it teaches us that even when Israel reaches a situation of the Holocaust, even then we should not despair because the Jewish Nation is eternal. The greatest proof of this truth is that just 3 years after the Holocaust, the amazing State of Israel arose like a Phoenix out of the Ashes of Auschwitz.

Throughout Jewish History, there never was a prophecy so vital for all generations as Megillat Esther, to inspire us with hope for a better and brighter future.