Bruchim ha baim! = Welcome everyone! This is the online roll of Eszter, the first chapter,of a virtual megillah that is being published on the day of Purim - not by chance!
A pros pros - Hag Purim Sameach!
So why today? Anno, in the 5741st year after the creation of the world my parents gave me the name: Eszter. (= Esther) This is how I became the female version of Adam Paradise: Eszter Shushan. (For those who haven't read the Book of Esther - the story of Esther happened in the city of Shushan.)
The name "Shushan", my father’s family name, is a decent Hungarian name - as far as I know. It’s not a frequent name, but it does exist, and most probably it has nothing to do with neither the Jews nor the Persians.
Shushan and Shushan – are two words with the same letters and pronunciation, the same form and outline – but both denote something different. This is even more interesting as the story of Esther is full of such and similar deceptions and disguises; forms that look the same from the outside, but really are different essentially. Not to mentione the central theme of Fate (Purim = Lots), i.e. about the question if we receive our names / our fate arbitrarily.
"Each of us has a name" – writes the Hebrew poet, Zelda -
given by our enemies
and given by our love
Each of us has a name
given by our celebrations
and given by our work
Each of us has a name
given by the seasons
and given by our blindness
Each of us has a name
given by the sea
and given by
our death."
The photo is taken in the center of Jerusalem, and represents the same sentence in the form of street art - and of course extended by a question mark – and the end of the tale of an alien slipping into an other dimension(?)
Jerusalem does not only belong to this chapter, as Shushan Purim can be typically related to the city of J'lem, but also, because I will write much more about the „holy city” on this blog, because I moved there for a couple of months. I am also traveling a lot in the meantime - today Budapest - in two days in New York - sand I hope this blog will be a good way to collect and share experiences.
So Purim – or Lots – my parents knew the story of Queen Esther, but they did not remember the name of the city, thus the stylish name-giving was not a conscious act – even if it might not be a coincidence, either.
I was ca. 10 years old when one of my class mates in school has pointed out to me with a weird smile on his face, that I was included in the Bible. I was not very happy about these news, and getting home immediately demanded an answer from my mum – but she was as surprised as myself. This is how it all has started, and from that day the consciousness has evolved gradually that my name has a unique significance to me, and that on a certain intellectual-sensual level my life resonates with my name, including the ancient story of Esther.
I found four concrete things that are relevant to my life from the book of Esther:
1. commitment to Jewry
2. seducement and philters
3. “inter-marriage”
4. objectified women
A strange, holistic solution to the last one…
To number 1. so much that Esther has taken on her Jewish identity in a non-Jewish – sometimes anti-Jewish environment. I did the same. Moreover, Esther has committed to the cause of saving the Jewish people – and even if I do not have such a grant assignment – until now – I became an Amazon of the Hungarian Jewish revival. Marom, Siraly, Moishe House Budapest, Dor Hadash – I was there as a founder in all of them, and I am active until today.
To number 2 – please feel free to associate!
Point 3 is the story of my parents – and myself / Hungarian Jewry - being casted in the Diaspora: this uniquely Jewish name, Esther Shushan is actually not Jewish at all! The original name of Esther was Hadassa, and Shushan denotes either the Persian city or my gentile father’s name.
To number 4 I can only add that the story of Esther is a quite problematic story. It ends with a senseless massacre, and the price of saving of the Jewish people is to use the body of Esther: she needs to give all of her body and herself eventually to be the property of the king – which is – from the side of Mordechai - woman trafficking.
there is something missing
from this story:
someone
somewhere
doesn't bother to say
whether Esther
actually liked
King A
(Michelene Wandor, excerpt)
So there will be thoughts about Jerusalem, women, super heroes, cities – and all kinds of crazy stuff here in this roll.
Alright, I gotto go to the Purim party tonite, hear the megillah and dance to Oi Va Voi!
In the meantime here is Daniel’s thoughts on Esther:
In the meantime here is Daniel’s thoughts on Esther:
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