In the Bible, the stories of Exodus and Esther stand out due to the implicit parallels between the characters of Moses and Esther. Both Moses and Esther were born Jews and forced to assimilate into other cultures, both were thrust into positions of significant power over a population of people drastically different from themselves (Egyptian and Persian, respectively), and both were charged with the heavy task of freeing their people -- the Israelites / Jews -- from certain oppression and destruction and were ultimately successful in their respective duties. However, these overt parallels beg the question -- between Moses and Esther, who was the more effective leader? In the context of the Bible itself and its persisting relevance in modern
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Moses’ tentative command is completely pushed aside in favor of Aaron’s -- in the absence of Moses, “the people gathered around Aaron”, pleading for Aaron to “make gods for [them].” (Exodus 32:1) Under Aaron’s encouragement, the Israelites immediately degrade themselves into idolatry, worshipping a golden calf. Aaron’s easy control over the Israelites reveals Moses’ substantial lack of charisma and authority, as Moses’ authority was composed largely of Aaron’s leadership rather than his own. Moses then falls prey to anger -- as his “anger burned hot...he threw the [Ten Commandment] tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.” (Exodus 32:19) Volatile emotion -- never a good trait in a leader -- causes Moses to not only waste precious time, but also alienates a good amount of his people, to the point where a massacre is incited. Moses orders the sons of Levi to “kill [their] brother, [their] friend, and [their] neighbor” causing “about three thousand of the people” to fall. (Exodus 33:27-28) Although, admittedly, Moses’ anger was due to indignance for God’s ego rather than his own, his failure as a leader in keeping his people in line while he was away and his recurring lack of support from the Israelites show his instability as a strong leader. On the flipside, Esther helps unite the Jews against the Persians, even increasing the Jewish population, as “many of the peoples of the country professed to be Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.” (Esther
Moses’ tentative command is completely pushed aside in favor of Aaron’s -- in the absence of Moses, “the people gathered around Aaron”, pleading for Aaron to “make gods for [them].” (Exodus 32:1) Under Aaron’s encouragement, the Israelites immediately degrade themselves into idolatry, worshipping a golden calf. Aaron’s easy control over the Israelites reveals Moses’ substantial lack of charisma and authority, as Moses’ authority was composed largely of Aaron’s leadership rather than his own. Moses then falls prey to anger -- as his “anger burned hot...he threw the [Ten Commandment] tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.” (Exodus 32:19) Volatile emotion -- never a good trait in a leader -- causes Moses to not only waste precious time, but also alienates a good amount of his people, to the point where a massacre is incited. Moses orders the sons of Levi to “kill [their] brother, [their] friend, and [their] neighbor” causing “about three thousand of the people” to fall. (Exodus 33:27-28) Although, admittedly, Moses’ anger was due to indignance for God’s ego rather than his own, his failure as a leader in keeping his people in line while he was away and his recurring lack of support from the Israelites show his instability as a strong leader. On the flipside, Esther helps unite the Jews against the Persians, even increasing the Jewish population, as “many of the peoples of the country professed to be Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.” (Esther