Queen Esther

I am named for my grandmother, Esther, who died when my mother was five years old. Hence, I know little of her family history. However, I imagine she was named for a grandmother or great-grandmother, Esther, who was in turn named for her grandmother or great-grandmother, Esther, all the way back to Queen Esther, our Purim heroine. There are seven female prophets mentioned by name in the Talmud; Sara, Miriam, Dvora, Chana, Avigiayil, Hulda, and Esther. Of course, there were many more but the Talmud only lists the ones who had a message for all generations. Esther’s message was that throughout history the Jewish people would suffer persecution but HaShem would never totally destroy them. Time and again he would save us miraculously in a blink of an eye. I would like to think that I can be a help to the Jewish people when we have difficult times. However, I have to be honest. I pray I will never have to make an enormous personal sacrifice for my people as Queen Esther did. I pray that all our Hamans will disappear and we will have a time of true peace.