Esther and

Vashti: Heroes of
Megillat Esther
Sarah VV. Gorbatov
What Is a Jewish Hero?
In the Torah, a hero is not someone who chooses to do precisely what he or she wants to
do as an individual, not someone who never does wrong, and certainly not someone who
never errs. In the Torah, a hero is someone who accepts responsibility for his or her
people and provides for them, even at great personal cost. As depicted in a number of
Hebrew texts and tales, Jewish heroes are usually people who make mistakes, of varying
degrees of severity, and then own up to those mistakes and strive to amend the damage
caused by their actions. They’re also known for their connection to G-d, sometimes even
for their willingness to challenge G-d’s will.
Esther
Often we regard Queen Esther, one of the protagonists of the Purim narrative in the
Book of Esther, as an example of a Jewish hero. Typically, she is presented as an indulger
in luxury who creates a happily-ever-after life for herself at the conclusion of the story.
However, in the actual text of the Book of Esther—unadulterated by the impressions of
five-year-old girls eager to dress up as queen for Purim—is a strong woman who
endeavors to make sense of inexplicable changes in her life. In this more accurate
portrayal, Esther rises to the challenge of saving her people from a politically-motivated
attempted genocide. Esther is not a hero because of her position as queen of the
Achaemenid Empire or even necessarily as a result of her successf ul role in Haman’s
downfall, but rather on account of her taking responsibility for her people. Esther was
willing to put her own life on the line and relinquish personal comforts and hopes for
the sake of the survival of her people and the wellbeing of its f uture generations.
Vashti
Recent biblical scholarship suggests that one of the true heroes of Megillat Esther is
Esther’s predecessor—Queen Vashti. Vashti ref uses to obey King Achashvairosh’s
demand to parade before the assembled guests officers displaying her physical beauty,
leading to her removal and the search for a new queen. Thus, she has been deservedly
praised for ref using to abide by her husband’s demeaning demand, especially when at
great risk to her life. Still, we must ensure that seeing Vashti as a hero does not
negatively affect our understanding of Esther, in many ways Vashti’s opposite. To be a
woman in Esther’s time was to live a life of total submission to male authority.
Traditionally, Esther has been praised as the hero and Vashti rejected as a foil to Esther.
Nevertheless, what if we were to flip the paradigm and to embrace Vashti as a symbol of
female empowerment, and see Esther as a strong-willed victim of abuse? As we reread
our sacred texts, we can see both Esther AND Vashti as heroes: Vashti, an incredible
model for confronting/ref using to participate in degradation, and Esther, a valiant
model for what it means to endure a dictatorial power-figure toward the achievement
of her virtuous goals, in this case, the overthrow of Haman and saving of her people.
 “‘My people and I have been sold to be destroyed, killed, and eradicated. Had we been sold as slaves I would have
stayed silent, but this enemy is not concerned about the king’s financial loss . . .’ ‘How can I stand to watch this evil
happen to my nation? How can I stand to see the destruction of my people?’ . . . The decree stated that the king
permits the Jews of each city to gather and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and eradicated all the armies
menacing them, children and women, and to pillage their property . . . in every province and city to which the
king’s decree and authority reached there was joy and gladness for the Jews, as well as feasting and holiday.” - Esther

“The Queen refused to come at the word of the king as brought to her by the attendants . . . ‘When Queen Vashti
was disobedient, she hurt not only the king but also all the ministers of all the nations in all of the provinces of King
Achashvairosh’s empire. When word of the Queen’s behavior gets out to all the women, they will treat their
husbands with less respect, pointing out that even King Achashvairosh ordered Queen Vashti to come and she did
not come. This very day, the wives of the ministers of Persia and Media who have heard what Queen Vashti did, will
bring up this incident to the ministers of the king, and that will cause a great deal of scandal and quarreling . . .
Queen Vashti many never again come to King Achashvairosh . . . and her royal position will be given to someone
else more suitable.’” - Vashti
Conclusion: Women Are Awesome