Additional Resources
Books
Adele Berlin, The JPS Bible Commentary: Esther
Erica Brown, Esther: Power, Fate and Fragility in Exile
Michael Eisenberg, The Vanishing Jew: A Wake-Up Call from the Book of Esther
David Fohrman, The Queen You Thought You Knew: Unmasking Esther’s Hidden Story
Michael V. Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther
Jonathan Grossman, Esther (The Outer Narrative and the Hidden Reading)
Stuart W. Halpern (ed.), Esther in America
Yoram Hazony, The Dawn: Political Teachings of the Book of Esther
Yoram Hazony, God and Politics in Esther
Rebecca Kanner, Esther: A Novel
Rebecca Kohn, The Gilded Chamber: A Novel of Queen Esther
Aaron Koller, Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought
Michal Lemberger, After Abel and Other Stories (includes the story “Zeresh, His Wife”)
Jon Levenson, Esther: A Commentary
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, King and Court in Ancient Persia 559 to 331 BCE
Shai Secunda, The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Its Sasanian Context
Anna Solomon, The Book of V.: A Novel
JT Waldman: Megillat Esther (graphic novel)
[Hebrew] Mishael Zion, The Book of Esther: A New Israeli Commentary
Reference Material for Megillah Project Video Presentations
Ayalon Eliach’s Presentation
Rava’s Murder of Rabbi Zeira: A Pro-Mordechai Purim Shpiel (Sefaria Source Sheet by Ayalon Eliach)
Other Commentaries Noticing Rava’s Perspective on Mordecai and Haman
Ayalon Eliach, Mordechai the Villain: The Untold Story of Drinking on Purim (Ha’aretz)
Ayalon Eliach, Where Do Purim “Spiels” Come From? (Ha’aretz)
Additional Video Presentations from Megillah Project Presenters and Partners
Articles
Wendy Amsellem, Vashti and Esther: A Feminist Perspective (at MyJewishLearning.com)
Abraham Berkowitz, “My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?” — Jesus or Esther? (at TheTorah.com)
Adele Berlin, All About Esther (at MyJewishLearning.com)
Adele Berlin, The Book of Esther (at MyJewishLearning.com)
Adele Berlin, Esther as Comedy: Can a Book of the Bible be Funny? (at MyJewishLearning.com)
Adele Berlin, How the Book of Esther Changed (at MyJewishLearning.com)
Adele Berlin, Josephus’s Version of Esther (at MyJewishLearning.com)
Marc Zvi Brettler, Megillat Esther: Reversing the Legacy of King Saul (at TheTorah.com)
Ayalon Eliach, Mordechai the Villain: The Untold Story of Drinking on Purim (Ha’aretz)
Ayalon Eliach, Where Do Purim “Spiels” Come From? (Ha’aretz)
Irving Greenberg, Were Mordecai and Esther Assimilated Jews? (at MyJewishLearning.com)
Sara Japhet, Survival and Revival: Megillat Esther and Ezra-Nehemiah (at TheTorah.com)
Aaron Koller, A More Religious Megillah: The Jewish-Greek Version of Esther (at TheTorah.com)
Laura Lieber, Tisha B’Av with Queen Esther (at TheTorah.com)
Marty Lockshin, Haman's Antisemitism: What Did He Not Like About the Jews? (at TheTorah.com)
Shai Secunda, Reading Megillah in Tehran: How Iranian Jews Celebrate Purim (in Tablet)
Wendy Zierler, The Enduring Value of "These Days of Purim" (at TheTorah.com)
Online Reference Tools
The Text of the Book of Esther in Hebrew and English at Sefaria.com
Essays on the Book of Esther at 929 English (coming early September 2021)
MyJewishLearning.com (Topic = Purim)
Rava’s Murder of Rabbi Zeira: A Pro-Mordechai Purim Shpiel (Sefaria Source Sheet by Ayalon Eliach)
Podcast Episodes, Short Videos, and Other Multimedia Content
[Hebrew] Osim Tanakh Podcast (“The Dark Sides of the Book of Esther”)
[Hebrew] Osim Tanakh Podcast (“The Book of Esther: A Disney Story?”)
[Hebrew] HaPodcast Shel HaTanakh (“Bonus Episode: Three Who Know — On the Book of Esther”)
Esther in Cinema and Television
Visual Art
Sandro Botticelli and Filipino Lippi, Scenes from the Story of Esther (divided among five museums)
Artemisia Gentileschi, Esther Befor Ahasuerus (located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Jan Lievens, The Feast of Esther (located at the North Carolina Museum of Art)
Michelangelo, The Punishment of Haman (The Sistine Chapel, The Vatican)
Rembrandt, Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther (located at Pushkin Museum, Moscow)
Rembrandt, Haman Prepares to Honor Mordecai (located at the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia)
Rembrandt, The Triumph of Mordecai (etching) (located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Music
Comedy