Oy, enough winter already! As I am writing this it is 32° and the wind is howling at 40 mph. But tomorrow night is Purim. Purim is the late winter/early spring holiday and is one of my favorites. As a Kabbalah-ist (if there is such a word) and Freemason, the book of Esther (from which we get Purim) stands out as the little giant of the Bible.
I am doing a cut and paste of the thumbnail sketch of Purim from Chabad and I have no idea who wrote it.
The story in a nutshell:
The Persian empire of the 4th century BCE extended over 127 lands, and all the Jews were its subjects. When King Ahasuerus had his wife, Queen Vashti, executed for failing to follow his orders, he orchestrated a beauty pageant to find a new queen. A Jewish girl, Esther, found favor in his eyes and became the new queen—though she refused to divulge the identity of her nationality.
Meanwhile, the anti-Semitic Haman was appointed prime minister of the empire. Mordechai, the leader of the Jews (and Esther’s cousin) defied the king’s orders and refused to bow to Haman. Haman was incensed and convinced the king to issue a decree ordering the extermination of all the Jews on the 13 Adar—a date chosen by a lottery Haman made.
Mordechai galvanized all the Jews, convincing them to repent, fast and pray to G-d. Meanwhile, Esther asked the king and Haman to join her for a feast. At the feast, Esther revealed to the king her Jewish identity. Haman was hanged, Mordechai was appointed prime minister in his stead, and a new decree was issued—granting the Jews the right to defend themselves against their enemies.
On the 13 Adar the Jews mobilized and killed many of their enemies. On the 14 Adar they rested and celebrated.
As we say about many of our holidays, “they tried to kill us – we won – lets eat/party”. A few ideas and reasons of why I like Purim (the book of Esther):
1)It is short and to the point (only 10 chapters, about 11 pages.
2)G-d’s name is not mentioned even once in the entire Book of Esther. But, reading between the lines and seeing the miracles/coincidences unfold, it is impossible not to see the “hand” of G-d directing this whole historical event which gives us hope for today.
3)It is a mitzvah/commandment to eat and drink (liquid libation of choice) until well satiated (but not out of control).
ב׳שלום,
R. Schoch, PRF
Disclaimer – Anything written in this column is only my own impression of events, the way that I interpret them, and not meant to be factual and true. If confronted by a challenge, I will immediately claim senility and deny writing whatever is being challenged.