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Women's History and Purim
Mar. 2nd, 2007 07:17 pmHey, it's still Women's History Month. What a surprise.
What isn't a surprise is most of my teaching being cancelled next week due to hail damage. I think I'm still teaching Tuesday night though, which is good cos two students are cooking yummy things. And it's Purim from tomorrow so I can cheer up with food and alcohol and alcohol and alcohol. It's a mitzvah to get drunk, after all. It's the act of a good friend to join me - Sunday from 6 pm. (I did an emergency trip to the supermarket today so I can do emergency light meals for people who feel I am depriving them of sustenance by only feeding them junk food.)
Purim is all about the Book of Esther. What's funny is that in some versions of the tale (modern ie under 1500 years old) she is rather a passive heroine. She is seen as a willing victim, manipulated by her uncle into doing things for the good of everyone else and sacrificing herself at his behest.
It doesn't take more than a tweak of the original tale to turn Esther into a much stronger figure. I dream of someone finding written sources for the period that demonstrate an amazing Jewish woman who brought tolerance of minority religious beliefs to Ancient Persia. Or at least this amazing woman who faced down bigotry.
Trouble is, there might be and I wouldn't know about it. My sole acquaintance with Ancient Persia is six months of its archaeology as an undergraduate. I can recognise Persian guys shooting arrows from moving vehicles - which is an extraordinarily handy skill - but I know zilch about the historiography of the period. All I know is the retelling of a bit of it in the Book of Esther.
It's Women's History Month and this year my Esther is going to be an unadulterated feminist: out of period, anachronistic and completely wrong as that may be. When you look at it, the Esther we accept as canonistic is out of period, anachronistic and completely wrong: just not a feminist.
All help in the retelling gratefully accepted.
See some of you on Sunday!
What isn't a surprise is most of my teaching being cancelled next week due to hail damage. I think I'm still teaching Tuesday night though, which is good cos two students are cooking yummy things. And it's Purim from tomorrow so I can cheer up with food and alcohol and alcohol and alcohol. It's a mitzvah to get drunk, after all. It's the act of a good friend to join me - Sunday from 6 pm. (I did an emergency trip to the supermarket today so I can do emergency light meals for people who feel I am depriving them of sustenance by only feeding them junk food.)
Purim is all about the Book of Esther. What's funny is that in some versions of the tale (modern ie under 1500 years old) she is rather a passive heroine. She is seen as a willing victim, manipulated by her uncle into doing things for the good of everyone else and sacrificing herself at his behest.
It doesn't take more than a tweak of the original tale to turn Esther into a much stronger figure. I dream of someone finding written sources for the period that demonstrate an amazing Jewish woman who brought tolerance of minority religious beliefs to Ancient Persia. Or at least this amazing woman who faced down bigotry.
Trouble is, there might be and I wouldn't know about it. My sole acquaintance with Ancient Persia is six months of its archaeology as an undergraduate. I can recognise Persian guys shooting arrows from moving vehicles - which is an extraordinarily handy skill - but I know zilch about the historiography of the period. All I know is the retelling of a bit of it in the Book of Esther.
It's Women's History Month and this year my Esther is going to be an unadulterated feminist: out of period, anachronistic and completely wrong as that may be. When you look at it, the Esther we accept as canonistic is out of period, anachronistic and completely wrong: just not a feminist.
All help in the retelling gratefully accepted.
See some of you on Sunday!