8 | MAY 26 • 2022 

PURELY COMMENTARY

student’s corner

The Bible’s Portrayal of 
Jewish Trauma
U

pon reading the 
books of Ruth and 
Esther, it may appear 
as though the only similarity 
between them is their 
resilient titular characters. 
However, when put parallel to 
one another, their boundless 
contrasts — 
from tone to 
demographic 
— serve to the 
Torah’s intent 
of revealing 
the difference 
outlooks on life 
bring to trauma. 
With its caricatured 
characters, satire and 
retribution, Esther could 
easily be adapted for movie 
screens. A precedence 
of satirical tone is 
implemented with Memucan’s 
theatricalized monologue to 
the King Ahasuerus: “Not 
only on the king alone did 
Vashti go astray, but against 
all the princes, and against 
all the nations that are in all 
of the provinces of the King 
Ahasuerus. Because this 
matter of the queen [will] 
go out for all the women to 
despise their husbands in 
their eyes, saying, ‘The King 
Ahasuerus said that Queen 
Vashti be brought before 
him, and she did not come’” 
(Esther 1:16-17, author’s 
translation). 
The overdramatization 
provided by generalizations 
and ridiculous assumptions 
provides the basis for the 
pronounced liberties that will 
be taken throughout Esther, 
as well as establishing a motif 

of concealment; one thing 
is being said, and the reader 
is supposed to be aware that 
another thing is implied. 
Perhaps the best example 
of this idea is the character of 
Esther. To the reader, as well 
as other characters, Esther is 
reserved, concealing all parts 
of her identity. As readers of 
Esther know, this is a pivotal 
part of the story — it exhibits 
the most expanded upon 
hardship the Jewish people 
face in Esther: assimilation. 
This is illustrated, as well, 
in the overpowering ratio 
of named gentile characters 
to named Jewish characters, 
the spotlight on the gentile 
characters rather than the 
bucolic Jews. 
So, the story of Esther 
becomes about finding pride 
in one’s identity. Mordecai 
clarifies this best in his 
rebuke to Esther: “For surely 
if you are silent [about your 
Jewish identity] at this time, 
relief and deliverance will 
stand for the Jews from 
another place, but you, and 
the house of your father, will 
crumble. And who knows if, 
at a time like this coming, 
[when the massacre will be 
brought about] you will be 
touched [with this favor] in 
your queenhood” (Esther
4:14, author’s translation). 
In a contemporary context: 
those who yearn to conform, 
to obscure, to efface their 
Jewish identity in the face 
of oppression have the full 
ability to, but it is to their 
own detriment. 
To both the story’s own 

injury and benefit, it utilizes 
the tools provided by outside 
cultures to appeal to the 
assimilated Jew. And while 
this narrative is necessary, it 
begs the question: To what 
extent must Jewish people 
make fools of themselves to 
allow for a genuine narrative 
about their trauma? 
Thus enters Ruth. A tale 
simultaneously solemn and 
lively, it does not allow for the 
irreverence in its portrayed 
trauma of Orpah, Ruth and 
Naomi’s loss and economic 
wording as Esther does. 
The two characters act very 
much as a foil to the other; 
Esther’s arc of independence 
contrasting Ruth’s arc 
of learning dependence; 
Ruth’s open embrace of 
Judaism juxtaposing Esther’s 
concealment; the opposing 
journeys from aristocracy to 
a rural society against a rural 
society to nobility. 
The story of Ruth becomes 
very much an example of 
brazen healing, using Jewish 
folk storytelling methods 
and embracing the idea 
that the Jewish people were 
once a nation of transients 
and converts and many of 
them remain so today, as a 
pivotal role in the culture. 
May the implication that this 
book is read on Shavuot, the 
holiday in which we celebrate 
becoming a nation, not pass 
as sand through your hands 
over the upcoming holiday. 

Esti Klein is a sophomore at Frankel 

Jewish Academy.

Esti Klein

An Open Letter 
to the Detroit 
Community:

As leaders in the Muslim 
and Jewish communities 
of Metro Detroit, we 
unambiguously condemn 
the tragic killing of Shireen 
Abu Akleh, an innocent and 
well-respected reporter for 
Al-Jazeerah. We call for a 
thorough and transparent 
investigation to determine 
who is responsible for her 
death and call for those 
responsible to bear the full 
weight of justice. 
While we disagree 
on many aspects of the 
situation in the Middle 
East, we are united in the 
imperative that all reporters 
should be off-limits and 
should be afforded full 
protection so that they may 
provide the world with 
honest and truthful stories.

— Dr. Mahmoud Al-Hadidi, 

President, Michigan Muslim 

Community Council 

Seth Gould, President, Jewish 

Community Relations Council/AJC

Phil Neuman, President Elect, 

Jewish Community Relations 

Council/AJC

Patrick Cates, Member, Interfaith 

Committee of the Muslim Unity 

Center of Bloomfield Hills

Bryant Frank, Co-Chair, JCRC/AJC 

Muslim-Jewish Subcommittee

Ariana Mentzel, Co-Chair, JCRC/

AJC Muslim-Jewish Subcommittee 

Rabbi Asher Lopatin, Executive 

Director, JCRC/AJC

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