Gary Webster: Adar- Esther: The First Cryto Jew [2025/5785]

Shalom from Jerusalem, the truly eternal city. We begin Rosh Chodesh Adar tonight. Jews all over the world will celebrate Purim in about two weeks. Purim is a holiday akin to Mardi Gras in America. Boys and girls, men and women disguise themselves. There is a lot of eating and drinking. Some Jews read the book of Esther. Why do Jews wear disguises?
The answer is forthcoming.
I titled this chat, “Esther: The first Crypto-Jew.” What is a Crypto-Jew?

Wikipedia defines it thus, “Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek kryptos – κρυπτός, 'hidden').This behavior was very prevalent during the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition.
Why would someone want to hide their identity? One reason is, it is dangerous to your health and well-being to reveal your ethnicity. Second, it might affect your climb up the ladder of success. Many a Jew in America changed their name in order to succeed. How many actors and actresses Anglicized their names? Bigotry against Jews and Blacks was prevalent in the early twentieth century in America. Today, in the Western countries of Europe and America, Jews are not displaying any outward signs of their Jewishness. Men don’t wear the kippa. Women don’t wear their Magen Davids. How did it come to this? In a word, anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitism is not a twenty-first century phenomenon. It has been around for millennia. The book of Esther gives us a glimpse at how it can rear its ugly head.
The exiled Jews were living the good life in ancient Persia(modern day Iran). Mordechai, a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin, was an important figure in the government of Persia. The king, Ahasuerus, neither loved nor hated the Jews. However, a series of unfortunate events caused him to go against the Jews. The first was the removal of Vashti from being queen. Second was the promotion of Haman to chief advisor. The third was his signing into law an extermination order without any deliberation.
How were the Jews going to be saved from extinction? A Crypto-Jewess would intervene. Her name, Esther. Was Esther, truly a Crypto-Jew? Did she observe Shabbat? Did she keep kosher food laws? Did she celebrate the Holy days? Pesach, Shavuot, or Sukkot? Was she a Jew in name only?

"Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah. Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died. When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. She pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her attendants into the best place in the harem.
Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so."

Esther 2:5-10. What caused Hadassah to reveal her true identity? A crisis. The Oxford dictionary defines the word this way.
“a time when a difficult or important decision MUST be made.”

Haman’s evil decree would reach her in the palace. She would not be spared. She summoned up the courage to act and revealed her true identity to her husband, the king and to the entire palace. Her decision saved her life, the life of her cousin Mordechai and countless other Jews. Let us not be too hard on Hadassah. What would you or I have done if we were in her place?

I believe many who name the name of Christ today are Crypto-Christians. These individuals keep their identity hidden from their colleagues, classmates and friends. Why? They want to fit in. They do not wish to be considered weird for reading their Bibles or praying over their food or going to a house of worship on the regular. These Crypto-Christians don’t want anything to interfere with their achieving the American Dream.

These Crypto-Christians cannot stay undercover for long. The times in which we are living are forcing us to make a choice. In Matthew 25, Yeshua commends those who gave Him food when He was hungry and drink when He was thirsty. He praises those who gave Him shelter and clothed Him; visited Him when He was sick and in prison. The righteous ask Him, “When did we see you in these needy situations?” Yeshua replies, “Truly

"I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

Who are Yeshua’s brothers and sisters? The Jewish people. Now is not the time to be silent. The time to act is NOW. There are attendant risks for doing the right thing. Many righteous Gentiles did the right thing during World War II. It cost some their lives. Don’t wait for a crisis to do the right thing. Speak up and out against anti-Semitism. Speak up and out against anti-Israel talk. Tell the world about Yeshua. As the hymn goes, “Everybody ought to know who Jesus is.”
Rosh Chodesh Sameach.