The Whole Megillah

 Last week’s recommended book is the Book of Esther, also known as Megillat Esther  or the Scroll of Esther or the Megillah (even though there are four other Biblical scrolls). It can be found in several books in our library, such as The Five Scrolls (1984), edited by Herbert Bronstein, illustrated by Leonard Baskin, and available in normal size for borrowing and extra large for perusing. Or, to see Esther alongside everything else in the Bible, sit in a comfy chair  and read from the JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh: The Traditional Hebrew Text and the New JPS Translation (1999) in the Reference Section of the library.

I grew up using a booklet  for the Purim evening service with the Megillah in Hebrew and what I thought was the entire English translation. In fact, pictures 

Esther Chapter 9

 replace some of the words. Clearly, the editors were really uncomfortable with what the text really says. 

Why? Is it the violence? The fact that Jews are responsible for it? Does it interfere with the image we want the world to see? The image we want to have of ourselves? Is it to protect the children? Why do we change so many Jewish observances and stories to make them suitable for children and, in so doing, diminish their power and meaning for adults?

Purim is about living in a secular world with people who want to kill us and celebrating our killing lots of them instead. It also celebrates our being saved from being killed. As I learned at a National Havurah Institute course on the Purim-Tisha B’Av axis, Purim is a troubling holiday because nothing changes. Mordechai becomes Haman: he not only takes over Haman’s job and estate, but also his desire to kill enemies. We remain in exile and the Temple is still destroyed. There is no real redemption. We need to take back this holiday from our children and discuss the nature of evil, political power, women’s rights, sex trafficking [1], national and community leadership, see what should be celebrated and what should be rethought and then get drunk. I hope you had a happy Purim.

[And another thing:

[And another thing or two:

• I learned from Sam Steinberg of the Midrasha Institute in West Caldwell, NJ, that someone suggested to him that the story of Esther was originally a play. This explains why the king rushes out when he hears the dreadful news that his trusted advisor is planning on having his new queen killed—it's so that he can rush in to find Haman falling on Esther as he pleads with her for his life. Another reason: The king can’t sleep and wants to honor Mordecai; Haman can’t sleep and shows up at exactly the right time to suggest how to honor someone. Coincidence?

o        I’ve quoted my source here because in Pirke Avot 6:6, an unattributed(!!!) source says that quoting your sources brings deliverance to the world and the prooftext, “And Esther said ... in the name of Mordecai,” is from Esther 2:22.

·          It's not just Esther’s beauty that gets her to be queen. Her behavior impresses the government servants around her; I always figured they liked her enough to help her become queen.

·          And what happens to the losers of the contest? It seemed to me that these young women are locked away for the rest of their lives.

]

Eat, drink, and be merry—The Mystery Bear: A Purim Story

The Mystery Bear: A Purim Story, written by Leone Adelson and illustrated by Naomi Howland (2004), is a sweet story about a baby bear who wakes up hungry, follows yummy  smells to a Purim party near the edge of the woods, and finds delicious food as well as people in costumes. The adults are very impressed by his authentic-looking disguise and try to guess who he really is. When it is time for the Purim play, they poke and ——e bear and all the revelers run out of the house. The bear returns to his cave to finish his winter hibernation. The book ends with an explanation of the holiday.

The inclusion of Purim traditions like the seudah, dressing in costumes, danger averted, and a Purim Shpiel (funny play) makes the book a useful teaching tool. (The Purim seudah is a party held after the daytime reading of the Megillah during which one is obligated to drink so much that he or she doesn’t know the difference between “Cursed be Haman” and “Blessed be Mordecai.” (Speaking of he or she, cross-dressing (whatever that means) is fine on this holiday.) And I have learned that you don’t need to drink anything to see that Haman and Mordecai are surprising similar; but more on that another time.)

The Association of Jewish Libraries’ New Jewish Valuesfinder website finds the values of Hiddur Mitzvah (beautifying a mitzvah) and Erech Apayim (being slow to anger) in the story: The elaborate costumes, fancy food, and careful preparation shown in the illustrations make the holiday as joyful and beautiful as possible. The bear’s patience, given that he knows nothing of human behavior and Purim customs, is extraordinary. Verily, unbelievable. But, hey, this is a children’s picture book and we’ve suspended our disbelief as soon as we turn to the title page.

The bear is actually dangerous. Perhaps, not believing he is a bear is what saves the partygoers—they don’t show fear or attack him to protect themselves. Fortunately, this bear has no interest in hurting anyone; he just wants to eat and sleep. He is an adversary who can be reasoned with. Well, not “reasoned” with, but safely handled to the mutual satisfaction of all involved. Not all enemies are so simple.

Why a bear? Why were dancing bears popular? Why are there so many stories about them? (See Eric Kimmel’s The Chanukah Guest (1990), in which a bear is mistaken for the rabbi and Patrick O’Brian’s Post Captain (1972), in which Captain Aubrey disguises himself as a bear to escape from Napoleonic France.) Because they look like clumsy people? Because they look cuddly? Because they represent controlled danger? Am I overthinking this?

Another popular theme in stories for children is that the child sees things that adults do not. (See “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”) While the grownups try to guess who the bear really is under his clever disguise, the boy sees that what is on the surface is all that is really there. Sometimes, grownups spend so much time looking for hidden agenda that we don’t see what is right in front of us. Or we go so far as to deny what is in front of us while we search for the answer we want to hear. Or we don’t want to be the first to disagree with conventional wisdom or separate ourselves from the community. Or we look for deep meaning in stories written to entertain 4-year olds when we should just laugh.

Best wishes for a happy Purim.