Many within the Jewish community know of Queen Esther, a central figure in the biblical story of Purim. But there are six other prophetesses who often fall by the wayside. The Sisterhood at Magen David Sephardic Congregation wants to ensure that its members learn about all of these women.
Members of the Sisterhood dedicated part of their Jewish Learning Program series — titled “Understanding the Prophets” — to a Purim celebration and discussion about prophetesses on March 5, led by Rabbi Henry Soussan.
“Obviously, men have a larger role in the Torah, in Jewish tradition, in all aspects, really; but women are so influential and we appreciate them and they have a big role, but it’s more in the background,” Soussan said. “If we’re looking biblically, we see that women had a much more prominent role to play.
“Prophetesses have played this great role in Jewish history — I think it’s important to point them out.”
Through the educational program, Soussan said he will teach about the prophetesses’ lives, accomplishments and how each was perceived by the public.
“Starting from Sarah, I’ll go through all the prophetesses and talk about their lives and their challenges that they had to overcome,” Soussan said. “Because being a female prophet in those days was not easy for anyone.”
He said most people are familiar with the male prophets through their published writings, but for prophetesses, “we don’t really have many others” aside from the Book of Esther.
The discussion aims to celebrate Queen Esther specifically due to the “sheer recognizability” of that scripture. According to the Book of Esther, the eponymous young Jewish woman became the queen of Persia and sacrificed her life to save the Jewish people from genocide.
“Esther was a great example because the whole people was in danger … and they still all pulled together by praying together and fasting together and doing all those things together as one people,” Soussan said. “I think it’s a great message of unity that we always emphasize in our synagogue.”
He added that the Sephardic tradition tends to “broaden” the proverbial tent rather than exclude anyone, all while trying to adhere to halacha — Jewish religious law. Soussan sees the MDSC community as one big family rather than any one denomination of Judaism.
“If somebody from an Ashkenazi background came to our synagogue, they might think it’s an Orthodox type of synagogue, but we don’t think in those categories; we think in inclusive categories,” Soussan said. “We do everything according to the halacha as we understand it, but we don’t divide ourselves into different groups.”
Attendees are encouraged to wear Purim masks and one attendee will be randomly selected to be “Queen Esther” for the night. Soussan’s teaching portion will be followed by a game of trivia using what attendees learned from the program.
This event is just one of many learning programs organized by MDSC’s Sisterhood. In the three-part series on prophets, members also had the opportunity to learn about prophecy and about male prophets. Other programs include key concepts and ideas in Judaism such as the 13 attributes of mercy, Maimonides’ 13 principles of faith and the historical development and an overview of the Talmud.
Soussan is also the lecturer for all congregation-wide educational events ranging from the Talmud to the modern day, including how the Jewish people adapted and were able to survive throughout history.
“Rabbi Soussan is a knowledgeable Jewish historian and brings much joy to the learning program,” a spokesperson for the Sisterhood said in a statement emailed to Washington Jewish Week.
“I think adult education is absolutely key,” Soussan said.
