Bible by the Bay takes a modern look at ancient texts
Thursday, February 26, 2009 | by stacey palevskyMost people think of Purim as a kids’ holiday, a time for little girls to wear too much blush as Queen Esther and for little boys to don Morde- chai crowns.
But the original story is hardly G-rated
“Somehow Esther convinced the king to choose her. I don’t think it’s how she did her hair.”
Tobin, who wrote the Megillah-inspired rock opera “The Esther Show,” will lead a text study on the Book of Esther at (con)TEXT, an upcoming Bible by the Bay event.
An annual one-day gathering of scholars, clergy and master teachers, (con)TEXT offers workshops and sessions that explore the connections of original biblical texts to contemporary life.
This year, for the first time at a Bible by the Bay event, the keynote address will be presented in an “in conversation” format — with author Nathan Englander talking to professor Naomi Seidman.
That change is part of the Bible by the Bay’s new initiative to branch out and try different things, with the hope of broadening its audience.
Englander, for example, is the event’s first keynote speaker who is not a religious scholar, according to Adam Blodgett, director of community outreach for Lehrhaus Judaica, the coordinating agency of (con)TEXT.
Englander is the author of “For the Relief of Unbearable Urges” and “The Ministry of Special Cases,” and he will talk about the influence of the Bible on his work in conversation with Seidman. Both were raised Orthodox.
There will also be innovation at the after-party. Yossi Fine, an Israeli American bassist, will perform — marking the first time a cantorial soloist or a religious singer has not concluded the event.
Also new this year are several teachers: Tobin, with her workshop “Esther: The Adult Version,” and Rabbi Elliot Kukla, who will examine cross-dressing in the Bible and today. A couple of other workshop titles are “Isaiah vs. AgriProcessors: Food and Justice in the Bible” and “Who Gave Eve the Apple?”
It’s all part of becoming more cutting-edge — and potentially controversial. “We don’t ever want to sacrifice the intellectual value of our events, but we want to continue to make them more accessible,” Blodgett said. “We wanted to be more contemporary and also really engage the issues at heart.”
Kukla’s workshop is a good example of that. A staff member of the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center in San Francisco, he will teach “To Wear is Human: Cross-Dressing and Drag in the Bible and Beyond.” The basis of the session is a verse in the Torah that says “A man’s item shall not be on a woman, and a man shall not wear a woman’s garment; whoever does such a thing is an abomination to God.”
Does that mean the Torah prohibits cross-dressing?
“It seems straightforward, but it’s never interpreted that way in the Jewish tradition,” Kukla said. The Talmud, he noted, explains that the passage actually prohibits adultery, idolatry or dressing in disguise.
Likewise, Tobin said the story of Esther is commonly misinterpreted. For instance, Queen Vashti is usually made out to be the villainess, but is she? In the story, she is commanded to attend a banquet wearing only the royal crown, and when she refuses to dance naked, she is executed.
Tobin interprets that as “a feminist allegory,” adding that there’s “something we can learn from Vashti.”
Though she won’t perform “The Esther Show” during (con)TEXT, she’s excited to talk about the story of Purim with a new group of people.
“What I connect with in Judaism is a series of stories and rituals that remain relevant if we keep engaging with them,” Tobin said. “There’s a reason we tell these old stories — they teach us something about ourselves. And that’s how we educate ourselves, how we create a moral compass, how we get to know people from 100, 500, 1,000 years ago.”
(con)TEXT will be held Sunday, March 1 at the JCC of San Francisco, 3200 California St., S.F. Keynote and workshops, 1 to 5 p.m.; after-party from 5 to 7 p.m. $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Information: http://www.context2009.org.