The Other Side of Esther

The scroll of Esther is the Hebrew Bible's least religious book. Nonreligious, even: It contains neither prophecy nor prayer; almost every other biblical book does. Absent as well is any theological system of reward and punishment. Its author does not even view as problematic Esther's inevitable violations of Jewish dietary laws. By contrast, the Book of Daniel, another text set in the post-exilic period, begins its story by demonstrating the fealty to the laws of kashrut by Daniel and his three friends; they subsisted on legumes and water instead of consuming the rations and wine provided by King Nebuchadnezzar. And perhaps most problematic of all in the Book of Esther as we read it in Hebrew today, God is never mentioned. Serendipity seems to replace him as the chief architect of Israel's destiny.