Lauryn Smith

“Mordecai advises Esther to keep her Jewishness secret when she enters the king’s palace. Why she must do so he never states, but Esther understands that her life will be easier or safer (or both) if she hides her identity. Was it easy or hard for Esther to keep her secret? Did she comply under duress or in hope of advancement? The text never really says.”
― Elliot Cosgrove, For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today

“people. Esther didn’t choose her moment; it chose her. And when the moment came, she put herself on the line, threw her lot in with her people, and rallied them to action. A heroine for her time. A heroine for our time.”
― Elliot Cosgrove, For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today

“Put simply, to reduce my Jewish identity to fighting antisemitism is a victory I refuse to grant my foe. It was great to be a Jew on October 6, and it is still great to be a Jew today. Not just the push, and not just the pull, but the centripetal momentum of the two together—that is the generative force by which our community will be maintained.”
― Elliot Cosgrove, For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today

“Not joyfully; nor, for that matter, by our own volition. After October 7th, being a Jew became an identity defined by others, by those who ignore our pain, exclude us, hate us, threaten us, and in some cases kill us.”
― Elliot Cosgrove, For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today