Rashi: Who put the "SH" in Vashti

Purim is coming up! Therefore, in this post, I will cleverly dissect an article on the topic of Purim, written by a young "orthodox" female who thinks she's oh-so-clever, named Eden Farber. The article will be linked below if anyone wishes to read it at its source. It has remained unchanged from its source. The article has received its corrections Modern Rashi style™. The commentary is in bold and the article is not in bold. I have ascertained that this is the most prudent way to keep everything organized as what is in bold is the truth. I will carefully demonstrate her complete detachment from reality and the severe mental delusions in which she suffers from. Refoua Shelama.

Happy Purim, everyone!

The epic story that comes along with this holiday, Megillat Esther, the Book of Esther, has always intrigued me – it’s like a Disney story times 10. It has all the ingredients: a damsel in distress, an evil Queen, a romance, innocent townsfolk who need to be saved, two almost comically foolish crooks, an action-packed battle, a male chauvinist pig and a happy family ending.

This being a column, not a tome, I’d like to focus on one particular character: Vashti, Queen of Persia. She has always interested me, since before my birth even; you see, my father still talks to this day about how he wanted to name me Vashti.
To my readers don't personally know Eden, this should give you a little insight as to what she's all about. Eisav, Korach and Bilam are other examples of good Jewish names Eden's father wanted to name his kids. He saw the positive qualities in each one of these characters and as it says love a fellow as yourself, these guys were also "fellows". Why should they deserve any less love than Jewish leaders such as Moshe, Mattisyahu, Shimon or Levi? This should start giving you a serious insight into who Eden and her family are.
With a tale so rich, there are a plethora of messages we can take away, Jewish concepts we can derive, food for thought we can ponder – but what exactly are they?

Basically, she comes into the megillah when her husband requests that she make an appearance at his party and she refuses. Thus, she is immediately banished from her position as queen, and – well, we don’t ever hear what really happened to her.

This woman being my almost-namesake, that’s not enough for me; I wanted to look into her more. I’ve discovered that although she only appears in the first chapter of the Purim reading, there is a lot of rabbinic liturgy that explores what various individuals think she was.

Indeed, the first Midrash (or homiletic interpretation)
You call it "homiletic" because you don't like what it says. Had Andrea Dworkin written it, you would have called it "words from god".
that I encountered shocked me.
It didn't fit with your personal views.
It described Vashti as ugly, pimply and generally grotesque – citing this as the real reason she did not appear before the King and his buddies.

In other words, it wasn’t because she did not want to come or that she respected herself that she did not show; it was because it would be too humiliating to be seen as unattractive, a flaw that she worked so hard to mask. After all, what would her ruler-ship be if she was not perceived as physically glorious all the time?

Other Midrashim also depict her as evil, vain and physically distorted. Thus, by the end, I was quite confused.

Confused as in "when what the rabbis say doesn't suit me, I'm going to make up my own interpretation with my authority as a Rabba".

I know that there is a lot to learn from Midrashim; much can be gained from the insight of biblical scholars and their discussions on texts.
But only when it suits my political beliefs.
However, my conclusion is this: Their interpretation is not the only one, nor is it an objective one. There are many reasons why they might want to cast Vashti as an unsightly hag.

Because the midrashim are made up of chauvinistic rabbis, not that she actually was an ugly hag, right? It was that Vashti had more respect for herself than that and was a feminist in those times and "would not bend to mans will"? Good peirush, Rabba Farber.

Perhaps the scholars wanted to dismiss her so as to make room for Queen Esther, the main character of our Purim story; or perhaps they were afraid of this strong-willed woman and her disobedience. Or perhaps they feel guilty that we simply dispose of one of the few independent women who was not afraid of the status quo.
The chachamim were afraid of some dead ex-queen who was hanging from a tree. Is that really what you are going to suggest here?

Regardless, I believe that there is much that can be learned from temporarily putting this interpretation aside.

Because I don't agree with it. I like my interpretation of vashti as a feminist better, who cares what the chachamim say anyways?

As simple as it is to turn a complicated character like Vashti into a black-and-white creature, it does not help a person to glean all of the insights that her story can offer.

Insights that I made up to serve MY political agenda.

Look at this woman who did not bow to what was wanted from her, who thought highly of herself when no one else did, who did not let an unfortunate marriage turn her into something she was not.

She has a power within her that should be acknowledged – nay, admired – and not ignored or twisted.

I'm sure that you've also talked about the power that Paraoh had which should also be admired.

Of course, in the end, it’s not Megillat Vashti; she is not the star of our show. 

Not as long as those chauvinistic chachamim have any say!

Nevertheless, she offers a new perspective and a new story – one that is worth hearing. Her refusal to be her husband’s drunk friends’ eye candy (at least, from a literary perspective) is significant because it was not simply a refusal.

It was her standing up for against those male pigs!

Her actions were a declaration of independence,

The independence of her soul from her body...

one that also asked for liberty (insubordination to the will of drunkards) or death (exile from queenship). This is a declaration that we would never perceive if we only looked through the
chauvinistic
lens of the Midrashim.

Those midrashic rabbis simply had no clue what they were speaking about. They were only interested in advancing the interests of the patriarchy.

So, one may think it was Achashverosh and his noblemen that shushed this strong-willed woman at the end of her story, but maybe it was really the Midrashim that put the “sh!” in Vashti.

Although Rabba Farber is a good writer, she lacks real facts and will go to desperate measures to make up her own when she can't find any that support her warped views. Vashti had absolutely no problem appearing in front of Achashverosh and his noblemen naked. She did so on many occasions. (And don't try and say that all the sudden she had epiphany and became Persia's leading feminist.) She would often pose in front of all of them wearing nothing but the crown. (Doesn't seem like the Vashti that Rabba Farber tries to portray has much to do with the Vashti that existed in real life. Rabba Farber only mentions facts which advance her political agenda, and puts the "SH" on facts which portray the truth.) Vashti would have gladly done it again if not for an ugly rash covering her entire body. She would often have her Jewish slave maids wear birthday-suits as they worked for her. Vashti viewed herself in the exact same way men viewed her (men are not pigs, I will discuss why men viewed her this way soon), and that's why, when she had a rash, she wouldn't appear in front of the king. She would always want to look picture perfect anytime she went in public. Her level of confidence was determined simply based on how she looked. She would rather be dead than be seen looking less than perfect in front of anyone. Well, she certainly got what she wanted. So no, Vashti was not a feminist, she was an evil, antisemitic stupid queen who reinforced chauvinistic ideas and who victimized herself. Well, it eventually caught up with her.

Now, if Rabba Farber was looking for a real feminist in the Purim story, she should have looked to the Jews, instead of pining after the gouyim. Ester, the hero of the Purim story, did not want to wear any makeup and only wore what was required of her by Hegai, the chamberlain. Ester was full of self esteem. She valued herself and who she was over her looks. King Achashverosh had only been used to seeing fake women, who continually tried to make up for what they were lacking on the inside with glitter and sparkles on the outside. Therefore, when he met a real women, Ester, who behaved in the ways in which a Jewish women is supposed to act, he was in shock and picked her instantly. And we can see how that worked out for both of them; Ester became queen and Vashti became dead.

Ester did not act in a way in which she promoted her body and clamored for that kind of attention. Therefore she was not treated in such a way. Vashti acted in a promiscuous way, making her entire worth based on that. This did not go unnoticed by Achashverosh. She made herself into a victim. We see this behavior contrasts that which Ester portrayed. Ester made sure from the start that she acted with dignity and in a way of Kedusha, holyness and seperaton. She made sure that her worth would be who she is, and not based on how much paint was put on her face. This is the reason Achashverosh never asked Ester to appear in the way he wanted Vashti to appear. 

Later in the Purim story, Ester needed to speak to the king, and she fasted for 3 days before she did. Imagine what she looked like after 3 days of fasting. Yet she went to the king and the king extended his arm, his scepter and his grace out to Ester. Ester teaches us what real feminism is, what Jewish feminism is. She put her life on the line for her people and put her Judasiam and her service to Hashem before everything else.

original article