Speaking up and speaking out: Purim redefined
As we pick out our Purim costumes and debate our favorite flavors of hamentashen, let’s take time to reflect on the amazing women at the center of the story of Purim and how each of their models of feminism can inspire us in this moment.
The story of Purim: A quick refresher
Instead of recapping the whole Megillah, we’ll give you the spark notes version — with a feminist lense of course.
It all starts with Queen Vashti, who refuses to be paraded in front of King Ahasuerus and his drunken guests at a huge party. Her refusal costs her the crown, and her exile sends shockwaves through the kingdom.
Vashti is now out, and Esther — hiding the fact that she’s a Jewish woman — wins the crown in what is essentially the world’s most consequential beauty contest.
When the king’s advisor Haman plots to destroy the Jewish people, Esther’s uncle Mordechai urges her to step in. Esther goes from the passive queen to the brave strategist, calling a three-day fast and risking her life to approach the king uninvited.
She hosts not one but two banquets, reveals her Jewish identity to the king, exposes Haman as an antisemite, and saves her people all at once.
Purim celebrates that dramatic reversal — and the power of speaking up at just the right moment.
The Jews are saved, the villain falls, and now we celebrate Purim to commemorate that courage.
Vashti and Esther: Two different approaches to feminism
Reading the story in 2026, there are so many parallels to the issues women face today. The King’s demands that Vashti appear before a room of drunken nobles — with some interpretations even stating that he commanded her to “dance naked” for them — sets off immediate red flags.
The inherent danger of the situation Vashti was put in makes her choice to refuse the king’s order even more resonant. She chose herself, and her own safety, fully knowing the consequences she would face for doing so.
Her actions ring loudly, a clarion call for agency and self determination so strong even the king’s advisors worry about what the women of the land will do when they hear it.
Queen Esther’s rebellion is quieter, but no less strong. She is presented as “a perfect foil to Vashti,” writes Wendy Amsellem at My Jewish Learning. Even in the text, she is spoken of like an object, being “taken” from place to place, and described as “statuesque.” Her strength is quiet, until it cannot be. When her people are at risk and she is forced to take action, she takes control of the situation and incorporates aspects and lessons of Vashti, her predecessor.
She rallies her people, and she defies the king’s orders by appearing before him unsummoned — but does so in a way that is calculated to win his favor. She steps into her truth, revealing her Jewish identity and using her story to sway the king and protect her people.
In Vashti and Esther, we see two sides of the same coin. Both women are brave, bold, and powerful — but in their stories, we see two very different displays of what being brave, bold, and powerful means.
How will you use your power?
In the story of Purim, two women wield their power in ways that feel authentic to them. This Purim, we should all take a moment to be inspired by Queens Vashti and Esther and ask ourselves how we can use our power to meet the moment we are in. As we face continued attacks on our reproductive rights, as our government makes health care harder to access and sends ICE agents to terrorize our communities, how can we authentically wield our own power?
Will you be like Vashti, holding the bullhorn at the next rally to hold ICE accountable? Or perhaps you’ll take an approach like Esther, scheduling meetings with legislators to talk about passing the EACH Act and demand equal access to abortion coverage?