Esther in the Shadow of Joseph: The Real Message of Megillat Esther

Purim is a strange holiday for Jews, and nothing is stranger than its central piece: Megillat Esther (the Book of Esther). We dress up as someone else – just as Esther hid her identity (the name “Esther” is a cognate of “hester” – in Hebrew, to hide). Moreover, on Purim we are given license to get drunk!

As for Megillat Esther itself: it’s a travesty of Judaism. First, Mordechai makes no attempt at all to hide his niece from the beauty contest officials – knowing what will happen to Esther if she wins: ending up marrying the Gentile king (and she is very beautiful: Ch. 2: verse 7).

Second, there’s no mention of God anywhere in the megillah! And third, you cannot find any other biblical Jewish hero who is as self-aggrandizing and full of himself as is Mordechai – who himself wrote this concluding verse (10:2): “And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordechai…”.

So what were the Mishna era Rabbis thinking in the 2nd century CE when they decided to include this “Jewish anomaly” in the Bible? My surprising answer: they did so precisely because Megillat Esther is so “unJewish”! And the Jews in the Land of Israel at that time clearly understood what that message was, for they knew the entire Bible well – certainly the Five Books of Moses (“Torah”). Thus, they would easily pick up any “echoes” of a prior biblical story that would entirely change the flavor of the Esther story.

Which brings us to Joseph in Egypt. The parallels between Joseph’s story and Megillat Esther run along two levels: 1- narrative/plot elements; 2- textual similarities in verses.

First, their respective plot elements have quite many similarities:

A) Both heroes and later their “Jewish” brethren are in a foreign country because of the bad situation in their homeland.

B) Both stories take place in a foreign ruler’s court.

C) Both heroes end up as the second most powerful personages despite being in a foreign land.

D) Both reach the pinnacle because some local officials messed up badly.

E) In both stories, that local official dies by hanging.

F) Both heroes change their names to something foreign.

G) In both, a gentile ruler forgets who saved his neck.

H) At some point, the gentile rulers issue an edict to kill Jews.

I) Both stories “turn” at night (Pharaoh’s dreams; Ahasuerus can’t sleep and calls for a history reading).

J) Both heroes hold a festive meal – but the purpose is hidden from those invited.

K) Both heroes save their brethren from death.

There are also two striking textual similarities in the two stories: And Joseph was of beautiful form, and fair to look upon (Genesis 39: 6); … and the maiden was of beautiful form and fair to look on (Esther 2: 7).

Then this parallel: And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him: ‘Abrech’; and he set him over all the land of Egypt (Gen. 41: 42-43); And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy (Esther 3:10). And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman (8:2).

One final parallel: Esther married the gentile king; Joseph married an Egyptian priest’s daughter! But it is here that the two stories diverge: Joseph is bothered by his situation (Mordechai and Esther are not). He is facing an existential struggle, a conflict of identity – a split between his inner being and his external appearance. Despite many years in Egypt, Joseph could not avoid carrying a mental picture of his youth i.e., his Hebrew identity.

The conclusion of Megillat Esther is very upbeat – indeed, for any Jew knowing anything about Jewish history, it is far too upbeat. But even if you didn’t know much history, the parallel Joseph story says it all: the brothers’ descendants spend a couple of centuries in bondage because they stayed in Galut (exile) i.e., didn’t return to their homeland.

And that is the message of Megillat Esther, albeit thru the parallel echo of the Joseph story. Don’t stay in Galut, even when it seems that your situation or position is ideal. It’s not merely “background” to the Esther story that when she is introduced with Mordechai, the Megillah states: There was a certain Jew in Shushan the capital, whose name was Mordecai the son of Yair the son of Shim’ee the son of Kish, a Benjamite that had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away (2: 5-6). The Megillah is telling us from the start: this story is centrally about exile and living in Diaspora.

This is something that Joseph was acutely aware of. Think about Joseph at the end when he weeps one last time (Gen. 50: 17). What’s he crying about? The answer: the paradoxical weakness that is inherent in power. Joseph realizes that he is paying a steep price for reaching the top, but in a foreign land. That’s on a personal level (he cannot return home and his brothers still don’t trust him!), and also on a family/national level (because of his stature, his family stays in Goshen/Egypt and become slaves).

How, then, is the “negation of the Diaspora” to be learned from the upbeat Megillat Esther? The answer: recall all the “echoes”, the real, underlying message: Don’t think that the Purim story ends happily for the Jews, just because Megillat Esther ends well. Remember that the immediate end of the Joseph story was also very positive: Pharaoh invited Joseph’s family to settle in Egypt (Goshen) and treated them well. But once a new Pharaoh came to power (and Joseph was no longer around to help them), the situation changed radically. In short, the Rabbis were saying indirectly but clearly: this won’t last. The Land of Israel is the place to be.

But why the need for such a roundabout message? The answer: as the 2nd century CE was coming to an end there was serious competition between the rabbinic tradition in Israel and that found in Babylon – just when the Israel Rabbis were deciding which books would be included in the Bible. The center of rabbinical authority was starting to shift from Israel to Babylon. Having a Book of Esther with resounding (pun intended) Joseph echoes would serve as a warning to those considering moving from Israel to Babylonia – without declaring “all-out-war” between the two rabbinical camps.

The bottom line: looking at Megillat Esther, its Joseph story echoes, and the period in which it was placed in the biblical canon, the only reasonable conclusion is that the Rabbis included this book not as an encomium, but as a dire warning as to what happens when you’re not living in your own homeland. This is an interesting case where the Book itself (Megillat Esther) is the “drash” (alternate text). It’s not designed to make us happy but rather deeply disturbed, and from there to consider what is the narrative’s true message: beware of Galut life!