Announcing: An Upside-Down World: Esther and Antisemitism - co-edited with Dr. Ora Horn Prouser

Announcing:

An Upside-Down World: Esther and Antisemitism 

co-edited with Dr. Ora Horn Prouser

a.co/d/6oZhYjy

We generally celebrate Purim as a joyous holiday, including costumes, humorous songs, and the exchange of gifts of food. This lighthearted approach, however, masks the very difficult antisemitism inherent in the book. There is Haman’s hatred and irrational prejudice, and attribution of his negative feelings toward one person to a collective. We see not only individual hatred but collective hatred, with others, such as Zeresh, being complicit and enabling bigotry. Mordechai and Esther represent the courage and advocacy necessary to fight antisemitism, often involving political figures.

There are questions of concealing and revealing identity, the search for allies, the importance of community. While many of us thankfully continue to find the joy and happiness in Purim, we also realize, given the current situation of the Jewish community, that it has become more difficult to ignore the antisemitism which is a central focus of the book. We hope that this supplement will provide a forum for pursuing these questions whether in preparation for the holiday or during our celebrations. "An Upside-Down World: Esther and Antisemitism" will serve as a resource for the Jewish community to help us all to process and celebrate this upcoming holiday – finding joy and allowing ourselves to experience sadness, advocating for the Jewish People, and connecting to the Divine and each other, perhaps in different ways in the new world we are navigating.