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As I tend to ask every holiday, and again now, what's the real point of this holiday?
The story of Purim appears in Megillat Esther and is read every year at the Synagogue while the whole happy crowd tries to be as noisy as can be with their groggers, but nevertheless, it is worth some more thought. First, the basics. I have mentioned a few times before, there is no exception here from the regular theme of every Jewish holiday, namely "they tried to finish us off; they failed; so let's eat". Let me give you more details.
Achashverosh, whom most researchers identify as Hashiaresh I, (in the Persian version) or Xerxes I (in the Greek version), ruled the Persian Empire between 485 and 465 BCE, having most of Asia under his conquest at the time. After five years on the throne, he arranged a huge banquet for all the people of his Capital Shushan, mainly to show off his power, wealth and authority. During the event, he ordered his wife, Queen Vashti, to appear before the public to show everyone how beautiful she was, but Vashti, probably the first feminist in the world, refused and lost her royal status (some say her head, too). Typical of emperors of the ancient times, in order to pick another wife, the King ordered all the unmarried girls of the empire to gather in his harem, and finally he chose Esther, the Jewess, who proved to be the right person in the right place to save all the Jews of the empire from the eradication plans of Haman, the head minister of Achashverosh. Since then, we celebrate Purim on the day designated for the massacre, by reading the Megilla, dressing up, sending Tzedaka and food to friends and to needy people, eating and drinking, and even getting drunk during the Purim Seuda (feast). You'll probably hear some researcher’s claim that dressing up was copied from the Carnival in Venice, and eating and drinking parties were typical ways of the various European nations to celebrate the end of the winter. The practice may be the same, but we have our own way of doing and understanding them. We always pay attention to what's behind the things that we do.
We use the phrase "Purim miracle," but we see no miracle in the Megilla whatsoever. The story unfolds before us step by step as a mere natural coincidence and G-d's name is not even mentioned once. But don't let it fool you. The main point of celebrating Purim is to stress that there is no "natural" coincidence. G-d, even in the small details and at His will, directs the play and brings it to its happy end. This explains how Esther was chosen out of those thousands of girls in Shushan` and her uncle Mordechai "happened" to overhear the conversation of the King's guards Bigtan and Teresh when they plotted to assassinate Achashverosh and he warned the King and saved him. The story of this deed "happened" to pop up before the King's eyes out of the history books at the same time, late at night, when Haman came to ask permission to kill Mordechai and instead he got a royal order to carry out a whole ceremony in honor of Mordechai. At the same moment when Achashverosh was most furious with Haman, he saw something that made him believe that Haman was interested in Esther, and at that exact moment Charvona the servant "happened" to mention the hanging tree that Haman had prepared for Mordechai, which completely persuaded Achashverosh that Haman was a traitor and he ordered him to be killed right away, saving all the Jews. This demonstrates to us that there is actually no random coincidence in the world. Someone is behind the curtains directing the scene even if he is hidden behind masks (and this is where the masks and the dressing up of Purim come from). So let everyone else call it the Carnival in Venice or the pagan End-of-Winter banquette. It's all masks.
We always scratch the surface and find out that what you see with your eyes on the outside of things is not all there is. Something deeper always lies beneath the outer shell and under the mask, and this is the hidden truth about how things really happen. Happy Purim all of you.
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