What was your most surprising discovery?
I’d never thought about Ezra, Nechemia, and Daniel being Esther’s contemporaries in Shushan at the same time. They knew each other, and faced similar challenges. It was eye-opening for me.
What about Esther inspires you the most?
Her ability to accept what was happening to her. It says that she found chein in everyone’s eyes. Even though she was forced to be in the palace against her will, she still maintained her charm. She was a person who accepted what Hashem sent her way with grace.
We think of Purim as the happiest time of the year, when the Jewish people were redeemed. But Esther was the only one who was not redeemed on Purim. She was still stuck in the palace, unable to go back to Mordechai. She sacrificed everything for the sake of the Jewish people. Some people think of Vashti as a heroine who stood up to the king and of Esther as a meek, naïve character. They don’t realize the extent of Esther’s sacrifice. She literally gave up everything – both this world and the next. Now when I listen to the megillah and hear “v’chaasher avadti avadti” – and if I perish, I perish,” which the commentaries explain to mean both worlds, I feel for her. It hurts.
How did writing this book affect you as a person?
It helped me accept parts of my own life. I learned not to just pay lip service to the concept of hashgacha pratis, but to truly believe that everything is for the best.
What are you working on now?
Next, I’d like to set the record straight on the story of Yosef and his brothers, on Dina and Osnas. Many people read books that portray the story upside down. They turn Eisav into a nice guy and Yaakov into a con man. The Imahos are portrayed as petty. These stories need to be told right. There is a lot of material out there, a lot of good stuff. Hopefully I can do justice to it. And I find that people want to hear it.
I received some criticism for The Gilded Cage. Some people thought that Esther was too good, that she should have been more torn between the glitter of the palace and the values she was raised with. But these people are missing the point. Esther and others in Tanach are our heroes precisely because they transcended their challenges.
People look at me and think that I’m frum because I grew up this way and that I’m afraid to leave my sheltered environment. But that’s not true. I’m frum because I have a relationship with the Eibishter, and that would be the case in any place, no matter where I find myself. This is who I am. Esther was like that. She acted the same way in the palace as she acted in Mordechai’s house. She didn’t change in any environment.
Where can our readers purchase your book?
It is currently available for purchase on amazon.com and in some stores in New York. I am working on making it available on Kindle, as well as in bookstores throughout the country. Baruch Hashem, it’s selling well. I am donating all the profit I receive in the first year to tzedakah, specifically to Chabad of Davis.