Good for the Jews

I finally started "Good for the Jews" in time for purim. The book arrived in the mail and I finished my previous book just in time to start on this modernized Purim story last weekend. It was a complete coincidence. I'm not that organized and I'm not that cute.

I'm only a few chapters in, but the novel is surprisingly true to the ancient tale. The story starts out with school superintendent Alex buying a provocative designer dress in New York for his wife Valerie. He gets drunk with his friends one night and asks her to model it for them. She says no, he says you don't support me, and then, divorce.

Of course, the refusal to model the dress was only the metaphorical final straw in an already failing relationship, whereas in the original story, when the king Ahasuerus asked Vashti to dance naked at his feast, it's unclear whether this was Vashti's last chance, or this one act of disobedience was all it took to get her banished or killed, depending on the version of the story.

As I was thinking back to all the times I've heard the Purim story over the years, something odd struck me in my recollection as an observer. As a child, when I heard about Vashti being banished for her refusal to strip and young, beautiful Esther taking her place as wife and queen, I remember almost laughing at Vashti, thinking, "ha, bet she's sorry" about the woman who disobeyed her husband and lost her crown.

This recollection really bothered me. Why should I have thought this about a woman with integrity, who gave up her life of luxury out of respect for her body and herself?

Probably because Esther is the heroine of the Purim story, and without Vashti's rebellion, she would never have been allowed to step into the light.

Now I wonder about Esther herself. For all those years, she was portrayed as sweet, innocent and naive. But looking back from an adult perspective, she kind of seems like a gold digger. Marrying a man she doesn't love for status.

Anyway, in "Good for the Jews" Valerie (Vashti) is a really likable character. You automatically respect her decision not to put her body on display for her drunk husband and his friends. She's sharp-tongued and self-respecting, but at the same time, we see her vulnerability. Her husband's a jerk, but her heart still breaks at the thought of losing him, though she's completely unwilling to sacrifice her integrity to save her marriage.

As for the gold-digging Esther, "Good for the Jews'" Ellen seems respectable enough, though her romance with Alex hasn't taken off just yet. So far, she's a young, low maintenance, Madisonian hippy, like a lot of the girls I went to school with. It's been interesting following her around my city, placing her in both an ancient story while intersecting with the place and time of my own life.

Photo: Kids celebrating Purim in a 1950 classroom