The holiday of Purim is one of two rabbinic holidays (it’s not
mentioned in Five Books of Moses) celebrated yearly. The holiday commemorates
the miraculous salvation of the Jewish people living in the Persian Empire 2,400
years ago. It is also recounts the first (of many) recorded attempted genocides
against the Jewish people.
Mordechai being led on a horse by Haman
The background to the story is as follows: Around 2,500 years ago,
the Babylonians conquered the Jewish state of Judea, Jerusalem was captured, the
First Temple was destroyed and most of the Jewish population was exiled to
Babylon. Not long after, the Persians overran the Babylonians, and thus the
entire world’s Jewish population found itself within the Persian Empire.
Despite the initial trauma of exile, the succeeding generations,
born in exile, prospered and lived comfortably in the Diaspora (much like Jews
of North America and Europe today). The Persian emperor, Ahashverosh, had even
taken a Jewish woman, Esther to be his queen. (According to the narrative in the
Book of Esther in the Bible, Esther was the niece of Mordechai, the spiritual
leader of the Jewish community, but hid her family history and her Jewish
origins from the emperor).
Like so many other occasions in Jewish history, the peaceful,
prosperous existence amongst the Gentiles would suddenly be shattered.
Haman, a descendant of the Amalakites-the arch enemy of the Jewish
people, was appointed viceroy of the Persian Empire. One of Haman’s first
actions as viceroy was to receive permission from the emperor to slaughter all
the Jews in the Empire, effectively eradicating the Jewish people.
As with Hitler thousands of years later, the greatest threat to
the Jews had come at the least expected time and place. (Prior to Hitler’s rise
to power Jews were living comfortably in Germany – arguably the most culturally
and technology advanced country in the world as was the Persian Empire).
Threatened with total annihilation, world Jewry was in a complete
panic. Mordechai’s first act was to make contact with his niece, the queen, who
– living cloistered in the palace – was blissfully ignorant of the looming
catastrophe that faced her people. Esther’s reaction to the news was quite
unexpected. Faced with the greatest possible physical threat to the Jewish
people, one would have expected her to react with a sweeping call for drastic
action but the first words out of her mouth are: “Go assemble all the Jews in
Shushan (the capital) and fast for me.” (After several days of fasting Esther
planned to approach the Emperor and set in motion a daring plan to save the
Jews.)
The Book of Esther - The Bible's account of the miraculous events
There are two tremendous lessons we can learn from Esther
actions:
– The first is a fundamental lesson of Judaism that all physical
threats ultimately have spiritual origins. The physical threat is only a
symptom, and while symptoms must be treated (the Jewish people must always
actively defend themselves from their enemies) the only cure is to deal with the
disease. From the Torah’s perspective, the most dangerous disease facing the
Jewish people has always been a breakdown in the Jewish people’s relationship
with each other or with God.
– The second fundamental lesson is that Jewish unity is an
essential prerequisite for safety and prosperity. Internal peace is the key
ingredient to achieving external peace with the nations whether in Israel or the
Diaspora. As Abraham Lincoln stated so profoundly during the Civil War: “A house
divided against itself cannot stand.”
With these two lessons in mind, we can now understand Esther’s
instructions to the Jewish people. Her real message was unity and
tshuva (which means “return” or “repentance”) – fasting is used as tool
in Judaism for introspection and repentance. Unity and collective repentance of
the Jewish people have always been the strongest weapons in the war against
anti-Semitism.
Thousands of years ago, King Solomon, who was the wisest of all
men, wrote “there is nothing new under the sun.” History always repeats itself,
and threats against the Jewish people seem to be always looming just over the
horizon.
Now would be an ideal time for the Jewish people to take a page
out of one of the most miraculous stories of salvation in our history and do as
the Jews of Shushan did 2,400 years ago – make Jewish unity the top priority of
the Jewish people.
(Note: the author is currently working on a Jewish unity
project. If you want to find out more or get involved send an email to: kspiro@jerusalemonlineu.com)
