Cripto-ebraismo e metamorfosi antropologico-politiche: Variazioni filosofiche contemporanee su Ester

The story of Esther has been interpreted in many conflicting or diverging ways: a handbook of politics and theology; a portrait of «the instability and uncertainty that govern the fate of the Jews»; a comedy, a burlesque about courtly life in Persian empire. In opposition to the former queen Vashti, a static character, unwilling to accept a subordinate role within the courtly environment, Esther appears as a creative and dynamic agent, because of her being always the Other: the Other of man (Mordecai and Ahasuerus), of society (Persian court), and of Judaism (i.e., land-centered Judaism). Esther’s personality develops from passivity to activity. Thanks to her personal resources and to a dialectical relationship with Mordecai, she emerges from her initial concealment, submissiveness, and weakness, finally becoming the authoritative leader who saves her own community from annihilation. Taking into account contemporary scholars (like Joseph Soloveitchik, Yoram Hazony, Michael Fox, and Adele Berlin), this article focuses on Esther’s metamorphoses, understood as theological-political models of human behavior, both individual and social.