The Holiday of Purim reminds us of the physical salvation of the Jewish People from the evil decrees of Haman, who tried to exterminate all the Jews from King Achashverosh's kingdom. The only thing left at random was the date for the extermination. The date that Haman chose through a "lottery" (Pur in Hebrew, which is where the word Purim comes from) was fixed on the 13th of Adar. For this reason, we celebrate Purim on the 14th day of Adar, the day after Haman's failure to rid Persia of the Jewish community. Haman makes his case to the King that there is a dispersed and stubborn group among all the habitants of the provinces of his kingdom, with its own laws, different from all other people. They refuse to obey the laws of the King and therefore, it is not good for the King to leave them in peace.
We can see here that the holiday of Purim commemorates something that didn't happen just once; it represents a reality that exists and that has become more evident at different times.
The history, narrated in Megillat Esther, also tells us how Purim is to be celebrated. The Megillah shares that in those days the Jews attained peace with their enemies. In the month of Adar, the affliction transformed into happiness and the cry became joyful; the Jewish people had become a people focused on cheerful banquets and mutual gifts and donations to the poor."
The practice of wearing costumes on Purim suggests to us that perhaps we are wearing masks the rest of the year. On one day during the year, we liberate ourselves and open up our minds to perceive other realities. What is real and what is illusion? And how interesting it is, that our religion that focuses itself on a relationship with God possesses a narrative where the name of God doesn't appear anywhere. At first glance, it seems that the hand of God isn't present in the holiday. Haman convinces the king to allow him to exterminate the Jews, probably because Achashverosh doesn't feel secure in his power and knows that people are continually conspiring to depose and even murder him. Therefore, Haman makes the Jews a convenient scapegoat for Achashverosh's fears. However, when the King finds out that the influential Jew, Mordechai, put a stop to a plot against him, and that Esther, his own wife is Jewish; luck reverts back to the Jewish people.
We can understand the same episode from another point of view: Haman doesn't realize that his own accusation that the Jews are "a group" with "their own laws" contained the key to our redemption from his decree. Mordechai didn't bend his knee and did not obey the commands of Haman. He risked his own life by refusing to abandon the eternal values of the Torah. Mordechai not only achieved our salvation from annihilation, but also won the King's respect. He was awarded the position of First Minister and brought prosperity to the entire empire during his tenure.
For the Talmud, the events we commemorate on this date are evidence of the "concealment" of God and of God's indirect participation in the story. The name Esther is of Persian origin, and her Hebrew name was Hadasah; but using the name Esther is symbolic of the hidden performance (hester panim) of God. The narrated facts represent a smaller miracle than, for example, the ten plagues in the Torah. But according to some it was actually bigger. It is the type of miracle that occurs repeatedly, when God acts miraculously through normal events. The capacity to produce miracles didn't disappear after the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, rather the same capacity exists in our lives today. Purim is the time to acknowledge and appreciate the miracle that happened in Shushan, Persia long ago. Purim is also the holiday that reminds us to appreciate the miracles and presence of God that are present in our lives all the time.
Hag Purim Sameyakh,
Wishing everyone a happy and miracle filled Purim celebration!
Rabbi Micah Caplan
