This week, as the Jewish community gathers to celebrate Purim, one of history’s first averted genocides, we revisit the fortitude of Vashti and Esther. Where atrocities occur, or leaders preach hate, women are targeted and forcibly made objects of battle. Women also frequently guide us through the tumult, acting as crucial moral compasses.
Like Vashti, we must protect women and ensure that their bodies are not at the disposal of those who abuse and violate them. Like Esther, whose heroism stood up to the hate-fueled plans of Haman to annihilate the Jewish people, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard and stand up against injustice.
There are many Hamans in the world today. We see him in China, where Uyghur women are forced to marry Han Chinese men to erase generations of Uyghur children. We see him in Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where women continue to be brutalized by mass rape and gender-based violence.
But there are hundreds of thousands of women like Vashti and Esther who tell their stories despite fear and persecution. Some women repair women’s bodies and help them find independence in the aftermath, and many more create international organizations to heal survivors and repair society to allay future incidents.
Jewish World Watch seeks to inspire people of all faiths and cultures to be like Vashti and Esther. To stand up to injustice, speak truth to power and not stand idly by.
I hope you’ll utilize this time of joy and community to pledge to do even more for those in need this year. All it takes is one more letter to your elected officials, a donation to a life-changing project, or a conversation about our collective mission with someone new.
Each voice is essential in this effort to transform the world.