Hi,
I hope everyone is having a rather lovely evening.
Even though I was just in school when we started talking about Esther, I already like it. Unlike Kohelet and Eicha, Esther is more of a story. The only part that I was in class for was when we talked abiut what we already knew about the Megillah and we did not actually start it so I will do the best I can with the blogpost.
My excitement in class when we started talking about Esther was really extreme. The reason why I was so happy because we were talking about Xerxes and the Persian Empire. One may ask," What is so exciting about learning about Xerxes and the Persian Empire in Megillot?"
And I will give you an answer.
Earlier in the year I was sitting in Dr. Kennon's lovely history class while talking about Persia. We talked about a few rulers including Cyrus the Great, Cambyses 2, Darius the Great, and last, Xerxes.
The reason why I was so excited in class was because I looked at the back of our packet and saw familiar names that I had previously learned in World History with Dr. Kennon. Now I am learning it in a new perspective with Mrs. Perl.
I think that history is an interesting thing. I think it is especially interesting when you figure out where the Jews take place in it. I would have never, ever, ever thought that Darius the Great or Xerxes had any connection with the Jews.
The amazing thing in history is that the Jews are always around whether we notice it or not. It is truly a beautiful thing to learn about civilizations that were so incredibly successful but ended up declining. Think about it. Whether you know it or not, the Jews always play a role in history. We have been there from the start and will be there forever. Learning about how the Jews were around in various instances in history that you'd never expect makes me even more proud to be a Jew. We always are involved and although some may knock us down, we always rebuild ourselves up. It is just our thing :)
I always find that all of our different classes coincide, and I think it's great that we are learning the same things from different perspectives! Like you said, with Esther, it's so cool to first learn it from an objectively historical perspective and then a more religious perspective. Even in AP Psychology, some of the things we are learning about come up in Biology, so it's fun to say, "Hey, we learned this here!" It also makes it easier to understand and remember.
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