Rembrandt van Rijn, A Jewish Heroine from the Hebrew Bible, oil on canvas, 1632–33 (National Gallery of Canada, purchased 1953)
Who: Rukhl Schaechter, Adina Cimet
What: Yiddish tour of “The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt”
Where: The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave. at 92nd St.
When: Friday, June 20, $40.25, 11:30 am
Why: The Jewish Museum exhibition “The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt” is a surprising look at the Dutch fascination with the story of Esther, King Ahasuerus, Queen Vashti, Mordecai, and Haman (boo!!). Artists such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Lievens, Aert de Gelder, and Jan Steen painted depictions of the biblical story that is related in the Megillah, which is read on the holiday of Purim; the show is supplemented with beautifully designed scrolls and contemporary works, including Fred Wilson’s 1992 Queen Esther/Harriet Tubman. Curators Abigail Rapoport and Michele Frederick make a strong case connecting the events surrounding Esther with Jewish immigration to the Netherlands during the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648); as Rapoport writes in the catalog, “The Dutch, who saw themselves as religiously and politically oppressed by the Spanish monarchy, found in the Book of Esther a viscerally apt analogy for their own liberation and associated their war of independence with the Jewish people’s struggle with, and ultimate triumph over, the ancient Persian Empire.”
The exhibit continues through August 10; on June 20 at 11:30 am, Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter will lead a one-hour tour of the show in Yiddish, along with sociologist Adina Cimet. Tickets are limited and include general admission to the museum, which is also hosting the terrific “Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity” exhibition.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]