Purim is Hebrew for "lots," referring to the lots cast by Haman (Boo!)
to determine the date that the Jewish people of Persia would be slaughtered.
Of course the plot failed, which is why we celebrate. And we celebrate
this each year on the 14th of Adar. In Jerusalem, Purim is celebrated
on the following day, the 15th of Adar in commemoration of the Jews
continued fight in Shushan, the Persian capital. This day is called
Shushan Purim.
In leap years, when there are two months of Adar, Purim is celebrated
in the second month of Adar, so it is always one month before Passover.
The 14th day of the first Adar in a leap year is celebrated as a minor
holiday called Purim Katan, which means "little Purim." There are no
specific observances for Purim Katan; however, a person should celebrate
the holiday and should not mourn or fast. Some communities also observe
a Purim Katan on the anniversary of any day when their community was
saved from a catastrophe, destruction, evil or oppression.
The lesson that Purim teaches is not new - survival of the Jewish people
in the face of annihilation fueled by anti-Semitism. Fortunately for
us, Hashem orchestrates events that result in our detractor's demise
rather than our own. Some examples are Pesach, Hanukah, and the defeat
of Hitler. In Israel, we are presently facing a similar situation with
Iran's development of nuclear weapons and long range missiles. The newly
elected Hamas government has made no secret of aggressively working
towards the elimination of the state of Israel. While we know how the
story will end, that does not give us leave to shelve our responsibilities.
This is a really brief summary of the story contained in the Megillah,
which will be read in its entirety at our Purim celebration here at
Tikvat. The scene is set - the king of Persia has been engaging in revelry
for six months and decided to open the party up for another seven days.
The action begins with the king's desire to up the show and the queen's
refusal to "display her beauty to the people and the officials." The
queen is fired and, to find a new one, the king holds a beauty contest.
No plot-spoiler here, Esther wins. Unbeknownst to the king, Esther is
a Jewess and related to Mordecai, who is in the king's service as a
guard.
One day, Mordecai overhears a plot to assassinate the king and lets
Esther know about it. She, in turn, lets the king know; the plot is
foiled. The king records Mordecai's good deed in the Royal Chronicles
of Persia.
Shortly after this, Haman is appointed Prime Minister of Persia; this
appointment required all others to bow to Haman. Of course, this smacked
of idol worship to Mordecai and he refused to bow to Haman, which caused
some friction between them. Haman also came to discover that the basis
for his refusal was his faith, which caused Haman further distress as
it was not just one man's beliefs, but an entire people's - the Jewish
people.
Because Haman viewed the Jewish people as a threat to his position,
he plotted to have the Jews in Persia wiped out. But when? Haman cast
lots to get direction from the Persian gods to determine the date, and
the lots fell to the 13th of Adar, giving Haman about 11 months to bring
his plot to fruition.
To obtain the necessary authority to effect his plan, Haman informed
the king that there was a group of people who were a threat to the king
and to Persia because they held incompatible laws and defied the decrees
of the king. With that and an offer of 10,000 talents of silver for
the royal treasury (estimated present day value $102,950,000), he proposed
that the king issue an edict for the destruction of these people. The
king agreed and an edict was issued to all the provinces to destroy,
kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children
and women and to plunder their possessions in one day - the 13th of
Adar.
For obvious reasons, Mordecai was distressed by the decree. Since his
cousin, Esther, was the queen, he thought he should bring it to her
attention in case she could do something about this. So he brought her
a copy of the decree and asked her to intervene. Because appearing before
the king uninvited was highly discouraged by an automatic death sentence
(unless the king pardoned it), Esther was reluctant to talk to the king
since she had not been invited to see him. However Mordecai insisted
and persuaded Esther to approach the king uninvited. Because of her
concern with the death penalty, she asked Mordecai to gather the Jewish
people to fast and pray for three days for after three days she would
approach the king.
Three days later, Esther entered the king's throne room uninvited and
was spared. While there are some additional twists and turns in the
story, I don't want to give you too much of it or you may not fulfill
the mitzvah of reading the whole Megillah. However, Haman's plot is
foiled and he himself gets hanged on the very gallows he had constructed
for Mordecai.
There are a few interesting points to bring to your attention:
- The first is that there is no mention of Hashem in the entire
book. There is indirect reference however. Obviously the Jews are
praying to Hashem and fasting is also a plea for His assistance.
- The lineages of Mordecai and Haman provide an interesting backdrop
for the story. First, Mordecai is from the tribe of Benjamin, the
same tribe that King Saul was from. You may recall that Hashem had
commanded King Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites because the
Amalekites, generations before, attacked the unarmed Israelites
as they passed through the Sinai soon after they had crossed the
Red Sea. But Saul neglected to follow Hashem's edict. Getting back
to Haman, he was an Agagite, meaning that he is a descendant of
Agag, the former king of the Amalekites. Had Saul done as Hashem
instructed, there would not have been a Haman.
The Fast of Esther, Adar 13, commemorates the three days that Esther
fasted before approaching King Ahasuerus on behalf of the Jewish
people. If Adar 13 falls on a Friday or Saturday, it is moved to
the preceding Thursday, because it cannot be moved forward a day
(it would fall on Purim). Outside of traditional circles, this fast
is usually not observed.
This is what Purim is best known for - reading the book of Esther
in its entirety. It is customary to boo, hiss, stamp feet and rattle
gragers (noisemakers) whenever the name of Haman is mentioned during
the reading. Some write Haman on the bottom of their shoes and scuff
them on the floor during the reading to "rub him out;" others have
writing Haman on balloons and pop them. The purpose of these customs
is to blot out the name of Haman.
While on the subject of blotting out the name of Haman, the Sages
instituted a practice of becoming so drunk that one cannot distinguish
between "curse Haman" and "bless Mordecai." Apparently they felt
that being in such a stupor would further blot Haman's name out
of history. But, in my humble opinion, this practice is really Haman's
revenge since, in an effort to erase his name from memory, we incur
a nasty hangover. Candidly it's like trying to forget a pink elephant
by telling yourself "Don't think of a pink elephant." You just can't
do it with that mindset. Rather we should focus on Hashem's deliverance
and the joy that it brings.
It is also traditional to pass a plate before the reading of the
Megillah to "collect a half-shekel" for maintenance of the synagogue.
At Tikvat, we do hold a special collection for donations to the
poor.
This is really the crux of this holiday, joy! It is a time to remember
Hashem's deliverance and to just let loose by dressing up in costumes
and enjoying the reading of the Megillah, friends, good food, and
merriment!
Purim is a time to give gifts to promote the enjoyment of this feast,
such as cookies and cakes. These gifts are given to the poor and
to friends.
Two foods that are traditionally associated with Purim are Kreplach
and Hamantaschen.
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