Page 39 - HaMizrachi #27 Purim USA 2021

PURIM READING

Esther, Chapter Two

— ב קרפ ,רתסא תליגמ — Rabbi Yitzchak Blau

Women in Persia and Egypt

chashverosh’s campaign to find a that objectifies women and wants and decides to save and raise him.
new wife exemplifies his corrupt them subservient to their husbands. Next, Moshe’s sister enables Yoch-
Avalue system. Utilizing his royal If so, Esther’s heroism has an ironi- eved to nurse the baby and maintain
power, he commands every pretty virgin cally appropriate component. Haman, a relationship with him. Of course,
in the kingdom to spend the night with a central part of the atmosphere of the it is this baby Moshe who ultimately
him so he can select a queen (2:3, 2:14). Persian court that denigrates women, brings about the downfall of Pharaoh
His deplorable attitude toward women is ultimately defeated by a woman. and Egypt. The very women who did
was already manifest in the first chapter, If we accept the aggadah identifying not frighten Pharaoh are responsible
when he calls for Vashti to show off her Haman with Memuchan (Megillah for his demise. I believe this Biblical
beauty to the men of his court (1:11). 12b), then Haman himself expressed pattern in Shemot’s first two chapters
In this new endeavor, women spend six this fear of independent women. After lies behind Chazal crediting righteous
months in oil of myrrh and six months Mordechai dramatically challenges Jewish women with redemption from
in sweet smelling spices (2:12), an outra- Esther to risk her safety and save Am Egyptian bondage (Sotah 11b).
geous amount of time, highlighting the Yisrael, Esther takes charge and begins In one story, a monarch did not see
absurd immorality of the Persian court. giving directions. She instructs Mor- Jewish women as a danger. In the
Women are objects to be displayed and dechai to initiate a three-day fast as other, a king and his advisors viewed
discarded after use. she goes to Achashverosh without women as pretty objects who should
Prof. Yonatan Grossman employs a permission. She cleverly uses two par- be kept in their place. Both stories
good example of intertextuality bol- ties to make Achashverosh suspicious include heroic women who changed
stering this theme. Many note the and ensnare Haman. Those who tried history and defeated evil tyrannical
abundance of parallels, both thematic to keep women down find themselves men. Chazal say women are obligated
and linguistic, between the Esther nar- defeated by a woman. in the four cups of wine on Pesach
rative and the story of Yosef in Egypt. Interestingly enough, this generates night and in reading the Megillah on
Among the similarities, the phrase י ִּ כ another parallel to the Jews in Egypt. Purim because “women were also part
י ֵ מְי ּוא ְ ל ְ מִי ן ֵּ כ appears only in these two Pharaoh apparently does not con- of the miracle” (Pesachim 108b, Megil-
episodes. In Egypt, it describes the sider Jewish females a threat, com- lah 4a). While Tosafot understands
time it took to embalm the deceased manding that the boys be thrown in that women were simply subject to the
(Bereishit 50:3). In Persia, it refers the Nile while the girls can remain identical danger, Rashi and Rashbam
to the duration of time women were alive. Perhaps the Egyptian men want interpret this source as indicating that
immersed in oil (2:12). According to a wider range of available marriage women were the central players in the
Prof. Grossman, this equation empha- choices. However, in subsequent two stories. The story of Esther resem-
sizes the dehumanization of women in events, woman after woman subverts bles the tale of the Jews in Egypt and
the Persian court. They are treated like his plan. First, two midwives refuse to the holiday of Purim emulates its older
mummies. carry out the evil murder of innocent cousin Pesach in that both reveal the
The king’s advisors seem quite fright- Jewish babies. Then a Jewish mother, redemptive influence and exceptional
ened of female independence. During against all odds, places her infant abilities of valiant women.
the Vashti episode, Memuchan son in a teiva (sometimes translated Rabbi Yitzchak Blau is a Rosh Yeshiva at
expresses fear that ignoring Vashti’s as basket), holding out hope that he Yeshivat Orayta. He is the author of Fresh
insolence will embolden all women to will somehow survive. Abarbanel Fruit and Vintage Wine: The Ethics and
ignore their husband’s will (1:17) and suggests Moshe’s father had already Wisdom of the Aggada.
the royal decree they send out explic- despaired, but Yocheved retained her
itly calls for male hegemony in the commitment, courage and optimism. A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
house (1:22). Thus, we have a culture Pharaoh’s very daughter sees the baby mizrachi.org/speakers

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