Despite the recognition of Esther’s comic nature by many scholars, some readers may be surprised or even shocked by this idea. That is because the inclusion of a book in the biblical canon affects the way we perceive the book, or certainly the way it was perceived in premodern times and may still be perceived in traditional circles.

The very fact that Esther is part of the Bible–a holy book with religious authority and religious teachings–forces us to make it fit the expectations we have about what the Bible is and what kinds of writing it contains. We expect a biblical book to be serious and its message to be congruent with the messages of other biblical books

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Listen to the recording of the meetings:
First meeting Purim 2020