A whisper in the ear of the king, a decree sent throughout the land, women oppressed and plans are made to annihilate an entire population.  What a story.  Years ago I learned how to chant chapter 7 of  Megillat Esther .  As I went over the lines hundreds and hundreds of times I became impressed how in chapter 7, Esther finds her voice and was emboldened to take matters into her own hands and save the Jewish people. This year I committed myself to learning to chant verses 16-21 in chapter 1.  Learning the chanting is difficult for me, first I have to pronounce the words and then learn the chanting going over it again and again. When I listen to the Megillah as a congregant, I usually am challenged just to hear the words as the seasoned rabbi reads them so quickly. When I learn it, it is different. I stumble over and over the words and meaning jumps out at me.  

On the seventh day of partying, King Ahasuerus demands that Queen Vashti come and show off her beauty to the princes and servants from all over his large kingdom. Vashti refuses. The king embarrassed, angry, humiliated, and possibly drunk leans on his aides for advice. What should be done to a queen who disobeys? Memuchan, one of the King’s primary aides speaks out and in the presence of the king and the princes makes his case. Vashti didn’t just insult the king, her action threatened the stability of the entire kingdom. Family values and the traditional family structures will fall apart, women won’t listen to their husbands anymore. Not only should Vashti be banished from the palace, but it should be decreed that all women must give honor to their husbands. One woman, albeit an important woman, refuses to come to the king’s drunken banquet and all women lives are constricted. The action of one is generalized and then demonized. New laws are written and in a wink, women are oppressed.

As the Megillah continues, Haman, the king’s deputy, is insulted by Mordecai.  Mordecai , a Jew, refuses to bow down to him. From Mordecai, Haman generalizes and demonizes all Jews. Haman leans in towards the king and tells him, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom and their laws are different from every other people and they do not keep the king’s laws, therefore it is not for the king’s profit to tolerate them.” A new decree is written and in a wink, a date is set to annihilate the Jews.

The slippery slope might be just that, you start to generalize, demonize, delegitimize one group of people and it is not so difficult to do it again. Is it the Mexicans? Is it the African-Americans? Is it the Muslims or the Jews or the LGBTQ community or women who are banging at the gates and threatening our stability and our American way of life?  I pondered this as I read and reread verses 16-21 of chapter 1. Our Purim story has a happy ending, the Jews are saved, we feast and bring gifts to the poor. How will our story end?