A Heavy Head

The saying ‘heavy is the head that wears the crown’ speaks to the gravity of leadership. Ira Mallory’s Hadassah: Queen Esther mini-series highlights this through Hadassah’s (Esther’s) role as Queen of Persia. His portrayal emphasizes the weight of her queenship in an ancient context. The retelling gives more voice to Hadassah and Vashti than the biblical text does, Vashti reminding Hadassah of her origins as a ‘poor Hebrew girl’ and advising her to choose her battles wisely, always seeing the ‘larger picture’. Vashti's advice and Mordecai’s treatment of Hadassah in the biblical text underscore how marginalized people are often conditioned to fight for ‘larger pictures’ while receiving little support themselves. In the book of Esther, Queen Hadassah ‘chooses’ to battle on behalf of the collective Jewish people after being pressured by Mordecai to do so (Esther 4). Her resignation to ‘battle’ follows a depiction of widespread systematic sexual trafficking in the first two chapters. Sexual trafficking commences with the sexual exploitation of Vashti (Esther 1) and is intensified when the king legalizes the gathering and transportation of countless virgin girls (Esther 2), and engages in their sexual abuse. Yet, no one goes to battle for their safety (Dunbar 2019). We may note that the king’s empire spans territory from India to Ethiopia, geographical locales that are predominantly inhabited by Black and Brown girls in contemporary contexts. This is significant, given the historical and ongoing exploitation and trafficking of Black and Brown girls and women from Africa and India. Mallory’s image and attention to sexual abuse in the biblical narrative prompts us to reinterpret the story for today's context. It calls for a refusal: disempowered girls and women should not be compelled to protect others (forced leadership) while receiving no protection themselves. Re-examining this story might inspire us to dismantle systems that impose burdens before and during leadership. This is how we reinterpret the story ‘for such a time as this’ (Esther 4:14).