"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."
(Please skip to 2:49. The beginning is all fluff.)
I don't know how many of you have heard of Veggietales before now, but here's a little background. They're a Christian film company that makes cartoons involving vegetables that are meant to teach kids valuable life lessons. They also happen to enjoy making films about biblical tales. I first watched this video when I was around 8 years old, and hadn't thought about it until we started learning Megillat Esther.
The quote at the beginning is the basis for this blog post. In class, we've been talking a lot about character development and about how the main characters in the Megillah are not what we've always made them out to be. Putting Mordechai, Achashverosh, and Haman aside, Esther goes through a huge amount of character development. She starts out the Megillah as this passive girl who does what Mordechai tells her to. By the middle of Perek 4, she's starting to realize that she can't be so passive anymore. At the end of Perek 4, she commands Mordechai to tell the Jews to fast for her and he does what she commanded him to do. Talk about character development. In the span of a few short perakim, she changed from a passive "bystander" to an active, commanding leader. So, was she born great? No. Did she achieve greatness? Not really, unless you count being pretty as an achievement. Did she have "greatness" thrust upon her? Yeah -- she was given the opportunity to save her people and, after some pushing, she took the chance. That's definitely something that should be looked up to.
On a side note, notice how the video shows exactly what we were talking about in class! The king didn't kill Vashti and the advisor was the one calling the shots. Interesting, no? Maybe Mrs. Perl isn't editing Pesukim after all.
On a side note, notice how the video shows exactly what we were talking about in class! The king didn't kill Vashti and the advisor was the one calling the shots. Interesting, no? Maybe Mrs. Perl isn't editing Pesukim after all.
Great post, Sarah! First off, don't rush to judgment and say that Mrs. Perl wasn't editing the text- who is to say that she wasn't coordinating with the Veggie Tale producers?
ReplyDeleteI love the quote. I think you're absolutely right: Ester had greatness thrust upon her! I think Mordechai kind've gave her that push, too. To me, the turning point for Ester came after Mordechai said, "Look- you have this opportunity to change the course of history. God will save us either way. So, do you want to be the one to save the Jews, or are you going to pass up this opportunity and let someone else take charge?" After that, Ester had her head in the game. She got things done. She ran the show. Go Ester!