So, I am a part of my synagogue's purim shpiel this year. Our script is awesome. There is this hilarious sing-down during the first scene where Achashverosh is asking Vashti to dance for him and his male party friends by singing "It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes...", and Vashti responds with "We don't have to take our clothes off, to have a good time, oh no"...
Well, maybe it's not as funny in text...
In any case, this particular scene got me to thinking... (a dangerous pastime, I know...
)
These days, at least in my shul, Vashti is portrayed as something of a minor feminist heroine. A tragic victim of her husband's drunkeness. Here Vashti is summoned before the king, her husband, and his many male party guests, all quite intoxicated, and she is told to come to his party wearing only her royal crown. Vashti refuses, obviously shocked at the violation of her integrity and personhood. Achashverosh, in his drunken state, flies into a rage, and orders her executed (or exiled if we're presenting to the kinder). After he sobers up he realizes the folly of what he has done, and we all know how the story continues.
This is a Vashti that any girl could be proud to portray in costume on Purim. But, there's another side to Vashti...
When I was growing up and attending my local Hebrew day school, we were taught that Vashti was a wicked queen, who was vain and cruel to her servants (often Hebrew women). This Vashti was in the regular practice of dancing nude in front of her husband and his court, showing off her many assets, as she was considered the most beautiful woman in all of Persia, and proud of it. The reason set forth for why she refused to respond to the king's summons was that she had suddenly come down with a case of a disfiguring skin ailment - sometimes said to be boils, and sometimes tzaraat (leprosy). Vashti was obviously embarassed to be seen in this state, and to lose her status as the most beautiful woman in the realm.
This is a very different Vashti - certainly one that is not at all sympathetic. She seems to deserve what she gets, and is definitely not anyone a young female would want to portray during Purim (unless you like playing the villian).
So - why are there two completely different takes on Vashti? And why are they so very different?
The text doesn't give us a lot to go on - it simply says that the King sent for Vashti, saying she should come to him dressed only in the royal crown, and she refused. There's no description of what anyone was thinking or feeling about the subject. There's no further description of how Vashti refused; how her response was worded might give us some insight into her frame of mind, but there is no comment on that.
We must rely on midrash and the interpretations passed down to us over time.
So - why these two opposing viewpoints? Has there been a change over time since I was a child that we now interpret Vashti differently? Which interpretation makes more sense to you? Which do you prefer?
Yet again - I have a response - but I'd like to hear your take on this first.
Have at it!
Well, maybe it's not as funny in text...
In any case, this particular scene got me to thinking... (a dangerous pastime, I know...
)These days, at least in my shul, Vashti is portrayed as something of a minor feminist heroine. A tragic victim of her husband's drunkeness. Here Vashti is summoned before the king, her husband, and his many male party guests, all quite intoxicated, and she is told to come to his party wearing only her royal crown. Vashti refuses, obviously shocked at the violation of her integrity and personhood. Achashverosh, in his drunken state, flies into a rage, and orders her executed (or exiled if we're presenting to the kinder). After he sobers up he realizes the folly of what he has done, and we all know how the story continues.
This is a Vashti that any girl could be proud to portray in costume on Purim. But, there's another side to Vashti...
When I was growing up and attending my local Hebrew day school, we were taught that Vashti was a wicked queen, who was vain and cruel to her servants (often Hebrew women). This Vashti was in the regular practice of dancing nude in front of her husband and his court, showing off her many assets, as she was considered the most beautiful woman in all of Persia, and proud of it. The reason set forth for why she refused to respond to the king's summons was that she had suddenly come down with a case of a disfiguring skin ailment - sometimes said to be boils, and sometimes tzaraat (leprosy). Vashti was obviously embarassed to be seen in this state, and to lose her status as the most beautiful woman in the realm.
This is a very different Vashti - certainly one that is not at all sympathetic. She seems to deserve what she gets, and is definitely not anyone a young female would want to portray during Purim (unless you like playing the villian).
So - why are there two completely different takes on Vashti? And why are they so very different?
The text doesn't give us a lot to go on - it simply says that the King sent for Vashti, saying she should come to him dressed only in the royal crown, and she refused. There's no description of what anyone was thinking or feeling about the subject. There's no further description of how Vashti refused; how her response was worded might give us some insight into her frame of mind, but there is no comment on that.
We must rely on midrash and the interpretations passed down to us over time.
So - why these two opposing viewpoints? Has there been a change over time since I was a child that we now interpret Vashti differently? Which interpretation makes more sense to you? Which do you prefer?
Yet again - I have a response - but I'd like to hear your take on this first.
Have at it!
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