Queen Esther Goes to Hollywood

The pivotal moment is when Esther decides to come unbidden before the king. She asks the eunuch Hegai for a chariot, but he refuses her and warns her not to go. Undeterred, Esther runs to the palace through the driving rain. When she arrives, soaked, her gown clinging to her suggestively, King Xerxes has just appointed Haman his regent in a meeting with all of his trusted advisers, including Mordecai the scribe. Esther flings open the great oak doors, but as she approaches, one of the king’s servants draws a sword to slay her. As she climbs the steps to the throne in slow motion, the sword reaches her neck. Mordecai looks toward heaven. But at the last moment, Xerxes pushes the sword away. He thrusts his royal scepter toward Esther as if he is exorcising...

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Jewish Routes // Arizona

Defying stereotypes, early Jewish pioneers in Arizona were not just storeowners and bankers, but cowboys, lawmen, ranchers and entertainers. The first known Jewish settler was the German-born Nathan Benjamin Appel, who headed west in 1856 from New York to St. Louis, then followed the Santa Fe Trail to the territory’s new capital, Tucson. Appel went on to lead a colorful life in the Wild West: He married a Catholic woman (there were no Jewish women in the territory), had ten children, and was a sheriff, saloon owner, wagon train leader and merchant. Loyal to his heritage, upon his death in 1901, Appel had a Jewish funeral led by a rabbi.

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