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Friday, September 3, 2010
Megillat Esther
Review by Michael May
Written by J.T. Waldman
Illustrated by J.T. Waldman
Published by Jewish Publication Society
$18.00
When I was a kid, one of my favorite Christmas traditions was to go to my grandmother’s house and eat her homemade hamantashens. If you don’t know what that is, they’re little triangle shaped pastries filled with fruit – in my grandmother’s case, apricots and prunes. Yeah, it’s probably the kind of thing you have to grow up eating, but I did, and I loved them.
Anyway, it wasn’t until I was an adult and made some Jewish friends that I learned that my traditional Christmas pastry was actually a Jewish treat made in celebration of the holiday of Purim. Purim, I learned, was a commemoration of the events that took place in the book of Esther. I knew the story of Esther, but I’d never realized how important it is to Jews. I mean, it makes perfect sense that it’s important, being about a time when they were almost wiped out. I just didn’t know there was a holiday for it.
It all makes perfect sense now. Even the spelling of my Christmas pastry calls to mind Haman, the villain of Esther’s story. (Growing up, we pronounced the pastry “homatashen,” and I don’t remember ever needing to spell it or see it written out as long as my pronunciation of it got me a delicious, apricot-filled treat.) I’ve learned that literally, the name means “Haman’s pockets,” although they’re actually supposed to represent his hat.
Anyway… Purim. It’s generally a fun-filled holiday with one of the only requirements being that everyone has to listen to the story of Esther. Even that’s a lot of fun though, with plenty of audience participation. Like whenever Haman’s name is read, listeners make as much noise as possible to drown it out.
And it’s a fun story too. All about a tyrant of a king who gets rid of his uppity wife and marries a humble, young Jewish girl named Esther. The king’s advisor, Haman, is a wicked fellow who loves to see people bow before him, but Esther’s Uncle Mordechai refuses. Mordechai isn’t really breaking any laws, so Haman devises a plan to trick the king into having all of the Jews killed. Mordechai wants Esther to help convince the king not to go through with it, but remember, the king doesn’t like the uppity women. How much influence can Esther exert without ticking the king off and being executed herself?
The story of Esther is famous in Scripture for the fact that it never mentions God. Jews and Christians alike believe that God was at work behind the scenes, but the lack of any overt mention of him makes the story enjoyable on other levels regardless of the reader’s faith or lack thereof. If nothing else, it’s an exciting tale of romance and courtly intrigue in one of the world’s most ancient civilizations.
In addition to the Biblical details, Waldman also includes particulars from the Midrash, the Jewish oral tradition that interprets and expands Biblical stories. The king’s rash decision-making about not only his wives, but also about the destruction of the Jews, for example, is explained by the notion that he was an easily manipulated lush. Get him juiced up and you could pretty much get him to do whatever you wanted. Waldman also includes occasional sidebar stories or observations from elsewhere in Scripture or Jewish thought. As a result, readers who are familiar with the Biblical account will find new material instead of just a straight adaptation of the Scriptural text, and those who are unfamiliar with the Book of Esther will get a fuller reading experience.
Waldman also adds to the experience by giving the reader numerous ways to get involved with the storytelling process. He likens this idea to the audience-participation in the Purim readings of the story. In addition to the sidebars I mentioned, which can either be read as they come in the story or skipped and come back to later, Waldman has designed his book so that when readers come to the middle of it, they have to flip it and continue reading it from right to left. Like manga. Or, more accurately, like Hebrew. It doesn’t make Megillat Esther a great starter-comic for someone, but anyone versed in non-Westernized manga (or Hebrew) will easily be able to follow along and have a good time doing it.
The rest of Waldman’s art is also a good time. Everything is very detailed, so “cartoonish” isn’t really the right word, but maybe “caricaturish” is. Characters are exaggerated for humorous effect so that the king is a fat, drunken buffoon and Haman does all but twirl his moustache. Esther is less comical, but she’s just as expressive, as is Mordechai. Esther is beautiful in a realistic way, the way that, say, Nia Vardalos or Minne Driver is and though she doesn’t get a lot of lines, she’s charming in the way she adapts to difficult situations. Mordechai is noble and strong, even when he’s dressed in rags or thrown into the dungeon. In other words, the heroes are heroic, the villain is despicable, and the king is clueless. Or is he?
It’s hard to review a book like Megillat Esther and predict how it might be received by someone who doesn’t have a spiritual investment in its story, but if ever a book of the Bible had the possibility of entertaining an unbeliever, this is the one. What J.T. Waldman has done with it only makes it more so.
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