Reframing the book of Esther as a case of spiritual mutism

ABSTRACT

Unanswered prayers by suffering innocents can make survivors feel ‘forgotten’ by God. Esther fosters a deeper appreciation of the social and theological implications of trauma for identities and communities at risk. In drawing on a decade of dialogue and practice with survivors of the Holocaust, this biblical analysis incorporates into narratives of survival various interviews of Holocaust survivors in microsociological perspective, which discloses the gendered experience of colonialism in theological terms. By viewing conflict as performative drama, the author constructively examines the historic roots of biblical suffering for post-Holocaust retrieval. Through this existential focus, survivor narratives and the Megillah display contexts of social exclusion with hidden power relations, made clear in the subjective experiences of both victims and their diasporic forebears.

KEYWORDS:

• Holocaust
• the book of Esther
• trauma
• healing
• diaspora
• Jewish Diaspora

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Before becoming Co-Chair of Holocaust Education Week in Toronto, Lily An Kim was invited to be a member of Christian-Jewish Dialogue of Toronto. She has a B.A. from U.B.C. and a M.A. in History of the Confessing Church. Lily currently resides with her children and husband in the Toronto area, where she has lived with her parents and indigenous foster sisters.