Review of: Esther in America
Esther in America Ed. by Stuart Halpern (Maggid Books, 2020)
By John R. Vile (Middle Tennessee State University)
When early Christians referred to Scriptures, they were typically referring to Hebrew Scriptures that we now designate as the Old Testament. Commentary in the Talmud and other rabbinic writings likely influenced their understandings of these Scriptures.
When early settlers, particularly the Pilgrims, came to America, they found the Old Testament to be much more readily adaptable to the process of governing than the New Testament and incorporated many of these understandings into such laws as the Massachusetts Body of Liberties.
In The Bible in American Law and Politics: A Reference Guide, I singled out a number of biblical figures such as Gideon, Moses, David, Jezebel, Cyrus, and Jesus who have served as political archetypes. Ahasuerus and Esther were among them. Reading the book Esther in America edited by Rabbi Dr. Stuart W. Halpern (who also recently co-edited a valuable sourcebook on the role of the Hebrew Bible in America) of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University has further deepened my own understanding of the biblical story and its primary characters.
The book is conveniently subdivided into seven sections, each of them containing two to seven essays. Most but not all of the essays are by Rabbis, many with ties to Yeshiva University. The first section of the book contains five well-researched essays explaining references to Esther in early America and in Hebraic republicanism. These essays discuss Cotton Mather, Artaxerxes, Haman, Mordecai, and the parallels between Esther and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter. Three more essays discuss how American advocates of emancipation utilized Esther to make their arguments, and include analyses of writings and speeches by Angelina Grimke, Maria Stewart, and Sojourner Truth. Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik also notes Lincoln’s Esther-like statesmanship in timing his issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Both Vashti -- the queen whose unwillingness to appear before the king led to the search for her successor -- and Esther provide grist for four essays on the “feminist Esther,” including one especially fascinating essay on Jewish attitudes toward beauty contests. The section of four essays on “diaspora life and dual identities” discusses how Esther initially hid her ethnic identity from the King much as some modern-day Christians and others of faith sometimes mute their religious identities in the workplace or in the public square. I found the essay on Mordecai’s role as a foster parent to be especially intriguing. The three essays on Esther in pop culture respectively examine her image in children’s books, in art (the book has a series of beautiful illustrations), and in Hollywood films. Two essays on presidential politics and Purim respectively discuss parallels to palace intrigue in the White House and President Truman’s role in the creation and recognition of Israel. One of the essays also cites contemporary comparisons between Queen Esther and Ivanka Trump, Hillary Clinton, and (as unbelievable as it may seem) Monica Lewisksy (p. 258).
A final section, with a total of seven essays, on “the Megilla and Modern Morality” thoughtfully addresses such issues as the legitimacy of the Jewish slaughter of those who sought to obliterate them, the ethics of voluntarily testing potentially dangerous vaccines and other medicines that might help others, the understandings of Esther in prominent rabbinic writings, and why rabbis continue to read the book of Esther from a scroll during Purim.
Some of the rabbinic explanations of Esther are far-fetched, as in speculation that Queen Vashti might have grown a tail that she wished to hide, and others that seem more likely, as when rabbis speculated that when the king summoned her to appear at the banquet with her crown, he was expecting her to appear with a crown and nothing but a crown! Some Jews interpret the new covenant of Jeremiah 31 as having been fulfilled during Purim in the understanding that they would follow a less miracle-working God out of love rather than fear.
The book of Esther is particularly important to post-holocaust Jews because it celebrates their ethnic survival. These essays suggest that Esther represents a time when prophesies and miracles had ceased, God (who is nowhere specifically mentioned in the scroll) is silent, and people must continue to strive in the belief that His hidden hand will still work on their behalves. Although individual Christians certainly experience their own dark nights of the soul, we believe that the coming of Jesus represented yet another divine eruption into the world that has left us with palpable presence of his Holy Spirit to this day.
As problematic as the notion that America is a special nation with a divine mission may sometimes be, the book emphasizes that many American Jews and Christians continue to believe that America is a promised land that should aspire to be the city on a hill that John Winthrop hoped that it might be. As Christians, we believe that we have a commission to take the gospel to the entire world, and sometimes contrast our missionary efforts with what we believe to have been the Jewish failure to do so. I was therefore heartened to learn that the Lubavitcher Rebbe viewed the Jewish presence in America as “a God-given opportunity to actively bring these people closer to God through a stellar personal example and explicitly speaking about God and the Noahide commandments” (p. 320).
In addition to bringing a fresh perspective to a timeless subject, the book is well documented, with helpful footnotes. Although I generally consider the absence of an index to be a near fatal flaw, the omission is less telling in a book with 28 separate essays, each with descriptive titles that are conveniently arranged under broader headings.
The book is well written and makes an important contribution to scholarship. I especially recommend it to political theorists who are interested in incorporating an understanding of Jewish political thought into their research and teaching.
REFERENCES
Halpern, Stuart S., ed. 2020. Esther in America The Scroll’s Interpretation in and Impact on the United States. Maggid Books.
Soloveichik, Meir Y., Matthew Holbreich, Jonathan Silver, and Stuart W. Halpern, eds. Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land: The Hebrew Bible in the United States: A Sourcebook. New Milford, CT.
Vile, John R. 2020. The Bible in American Law and Politics: A Reference Guide. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
