What can I do?

That's the question we are asking ourselves these days. Without a leader to lead, it is on us to figure out next steps. Sometimes looking back at others' stories sheds light. The Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible rings true today although it was written in the fourth or fifth century. The somewhat Shakespearean plot goes like this:

A powerful Persian King XERXES threw a lavish party for his broligarchy. His wife VASHTI had her own gal-pals gathered in her chambers when she was summoned by her husband to perform for the men. She refused! He banished her from the Kingdom for shaming him. His bro's convinced him to write an edict to go out to all wives that henceforth they must honor their husbands. The search then begins for a new Queen. The harem is the first place to look.

A young Jewish woman lives outside the gates with her Uncle MORDECAI who knows that HADASSAH would be a great fit because of her extraordinary charm and beauty and wit, but she is Jewish and therefore not acceptable. He wants her life to be better than what he is able to provide, so he renames her ESTHER.

Esther is accepted into the harem. After countless hours pampering herself in order to be presented to the King, at long last she is summoned to meet her potential spouse. Xerxes is smitten by Esther's beauty AND her intelligence. The two have a lavish wedding while Mordecai waits outside the gates because he is not allowed to enter. Esther stays in touch with her uncle by messenger. (texting) She tells him everything that is going on inside the Kingdom. One day, he overhears two insiders plotting a coup. Mordecai sends word to Esther, who in the knick of time averts the King's murder by spilling the beans.

Meanwhile, Mordecai has a confrontation with the King's chief of staff, HAMAM, who admonishes the Jew for not bowing down to him. (Saying, "You should be more grateful", or something like that . . .). Hamam decides to convince his boss that all Jewish people should pay for such irreverance. Hence, Xerses signs AND seals with his gold initialed ring (X) a proclamation that all Jews will be murdered on the 13th of the month. No exceptions. Everyone must go.

Mortified Mordecai sends Esther an urgent message to tell the King to stop the coming genocide of HER people! Esther says she cannot go before her husband, the King, without being summoned lest she herself be murdered. As if that's not enough, she would have to tell him the truth about her Jewish identity. Uncle M advises her to suck it up. He asks her the big question: Have you considered that "You have been brought to the Kingdom for such a time as this"?

A few plot twists follow including the King discovering that his own life had been spared from an attempted coup by Mordecai. Esther decides to invite her husband to a banquet rather than wait for him to ask her. She butters up his chief of staff knowing she will have to get passed him if she is to convince her husband to rescind the proclamation which the official seal of the ring prohibits even a King from doing because it is against the law. . . and no one is above the law!

At the banquet the wine flows and Esther summons her courage to tell Xerses that she is of Jewish descent and that he has ordered all her people to be killed in a few days. The King begins to see the big picture, including that he has been duped by his boastful, arrogant chief of staff. First, he orders Hamam to be hung in the village square. Then, he sends out a new proclamation to save the Jewish people from mass murder, and instead grants permission to have their would-be murderers avenged!

Queen Esther

On the very day this happens, Esther establishes the Jewish festival known as Purim to celebrate the Jewish people's survival while Xerses elevates Modecai to chief of staff.*

Perhaps the question for each of us to consider is the one put to Esther: "How do you know that you have not been brought [here] for such a time as this"?

*https://enterthebible.org/courses/esther/lessons/summary-of-esther