THE PURIM STORY
March 4, 2011
In the year 3392 – during the Babylonian exile – the Jews were dispersed throughout many lands. Many of them lived in the kingdom of Achashverosh. More than 50 years had already passed since the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, when the Jews were torn away from their sacred homeland, where they witnessed the daily miracles of the Beis HaMikdash and heard the words of the prophets.
Of the many lands where the Jews settled, some were evil nations, where they were abused, while in other lands the Jews were recognized for their superior qualities and were allowed to live peacefully in the best interest of the government and in exchange for the benefit that they brought to those lands. In such countries they were treated well.
***
Achashverosh was by nature fickle and very egotistical. Wise in his own eyes and easily angered, the contradictory traits of good and evil, wisdom and foolishness, were all combined together within him, as we are told by the Chachomim (Tractate Megilla 12a): “Achashverosh was a wise king and a foolish king.”
In the era of his father Darius, as well as in the beginning of his reign, Jews throughout his kingdom readily assimilated and made a good livelihood.
Slowly the Jews tore themselves away from Torah and mitzvos, and they sank deeper and deeper into a materialistic lifestyle. They sought out material excess, Shabbos became mundane, their keeping of kashrus became lax, and their family life – family purity – became almost non-existent. The Jews began to forget that they were the Chosen Nation; they ignored that fact that Hashem “chose us from all the nations and exalted us over all languages”. They began living a secular and undisciplined life like that of the gentiles.
Mordechai the Jew (“HaYehudi”) and Malachai the Prophet admonished the Jews unceasingly, and warned them that G-d does not tolerate such a lifestyle and would severely punish those who chose such a path. Mordechai HaYehudi and Malachai the Prophet tried to impress upon the Jews that if, G-d forbid, Hashem’s punishment were to take effect on them and their families, their fraternization with the gentiles would not save them in any way, nor would their wealth save them. But alas, their blocked and apathetic hearts prevented the Jewish people from accepting these prophetic words. And notwithstanding the fact that Mordechai was one of the most influential figures in the king’s palace [a quality that would naturally bear weight with those who were assimilated], his words regarding the importance of keeping Torah and fulfilling the mitzvos went unheeded.
***
Achashverosh fought great battles with a number of countries, and was victorious. The Jews from Achashverosh’s kingdom were heavily involved in the war effort and played an important role in the battles’ success. For this they were amply rewarded, and they received many acknowledgments of gratitude and awards of recognition.
At that time, among the people whom Achashverosh brought into his inner circle of officers was a man from very lowly origins. He was a barber and a bath attendant, and his name was Haman the son of Hamdassa. Haman was a man with great ambitions, a great ego, and a beguiling nature. He was thus successful in getting himself appointed to Achashverosh’s group of select confidants.
When Achashverosh returned from war with great victory, he made elaborate feasts for all his subjects. The Jews were also invited by the committee the king had set up for this purpose. The guiding rule established by the king’s edict was that every guest should be entertained with food and drink according to his predisposition.
The non-kosher meals, full of wild frivolity, made the Jewish people’s spiritual status even more untenable. And despite the fact that the time of the redemption – – according to the predictions of the prophets – – was already speedily approaching, the Jews did not want to hear of it; they mocked the message of redemption with derisive words.
The great loot from the battles accompanied by the king’s letters of gratitude intoxicated them. They lived in the most majestic and palatial mansions. They had a very freewheeling life without Shabbos, without kashrus, without mikva, and without t’fillin. They continued to enjoy their materialistic lifestyle to the extreme.
Every rebuke and admonishment was quickly shrugged off. It was a time of shfot ha’shoftim, the nation judged its judges. That is, the rich felt very confident in their wealth, and not only did they readily criticize the Rabbanim and Torah Jews, they also oppressed them at every opportunity in any way they could.
***
After that “day of reckoning” when Achashverosh put his wife Vashti to death, five years passed. During that time, Esther had been made queen. At the command of Mordechai the Jew, she did not reveal her ancestry, and no one knew her origin or lineage. During those five years there were many Jews living in Achashverosh’s kingdom, content and happy. They lived in great luxury and freedom without Torah and fulfilling mitzvos. They desecrated Shabbos and Yom Tov and ate non-kosher food. They assimilated into the other nations, thus weakening the true Jewish morale.
***
At the time of the Purim story, Mordechai HaYehudi (“the Jew”) held a position of prominence as one of the outstanding Jewish leaders of the time, living in a most central location, in the capital of the 127 countries that made up Achashverosh’s kingdom. He was in close contact with all the Torah Jews throughout all the lands of Diaspora, as well as those who were still living in Eretz Yisroel. However, notwithstanding his great influence in all matters within the Jewish community as well as in the king’s palace, he devoted his life to Jewish education.
Mordechai, in his capacity as a Jewish leader, was well aware that what stands at the epicenter of Judaism is education of its youth, and that this chinuch must be carried out by religious teachers. Thus, he organized schools staffed with teachers who were pious Jews, Jews who understood the importance of, and who put their whole emphasis on, implanting within the hearts of the Jewish children the belief in Hashem, love of the Torah, and self sacrifice for Yiddishkait.
While the affluent, assimilated Jews were living a hedonistic lifestyle, Mordechai with his dedicated group of teachers were raising a large number of Jews, true Talmidei Chachomim (Torah scholars) and committed to mitzva observance, who then matured to adulthood and themselves made sure that their own children as well would have an authentic Jewish education. These parents were also burdened by the concerns of making a livelihood and then, during the time of Haman’s evil decree, were even prepared for martyrdom, nevertheless they still faithfully sent their children to learn Torah.
For ten years, Haman schemed and plotted as he rubbed shoulders with the members of the king’s governing committees. Through well thought-out machinations, Haman was able to get himself appointed as one of Achashverosh’s close advisors. His wealth, accumulated through treasures he had found, was the single most important tool in his successful rise to power (see Midrash, Esther Rabba 7:5).
Haman’s prestige rose more and more. Considering that he originated from an inferior caste where the most valuable commodity was honor, the king established Haman at the highest rung of his inner circle of advisors. He then made an edict that all citizens, even the highest princes, must bow and prostrate themselves before Haman. This was the ultimate boost to the ego of the lowly Haman HaRasha.
***
The correct and original title of the Jew is “Ivri”. It says in the pasuk: “And the survivor came, and told Aram the Ivri”. This is how the Jews referred to themselves throughout the generations, from the time of Avrohom Avinu and on. The connotation of the title “Ivri” is that the Jewish nation is descended from Avrohom Avinu. To describe Avrohom Avinu is superfluous. Avrohom Avinu was the first who made Hashem’s name known to mankind. He showed everyone that Hashem, Blessed Be He, is the Creator of the world and that He directs the world with Divine Providence. He also taught the world how to serve the Creator. Despite all his physical and material challenges, he nevertheless pursued this holy task of spreading the truth of Hashem.
The title “Ivri” is a designation of honor that crowns the Jewish nation and which expresses the great self-sacrifice each Jew possesses to fulfill and perform the holy and divine Torah and mitzvos, in all times and places. That is how Yidden, “Ivrim”, have lived throughout the generations. With great perseverance and self-sacrifice, men and women, old and young, have kept the Torah and mitzvos.
However, within this general description, there developed a new situation. When the era of the “Kingdoms of Yehuda and Yisroel” began, the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos began to deteriorate, and the thousand years of vibrant Judaism and the traditional “Ivri” concept developed a different face. The term “Ivri” previously reserved for the observance of Torah and mitzvos temporarily assumed a political implication.
From the very first day, from the time when our forefathers’ progeny were crowned with the superior designation and name “Ivri”, they were called “am Hashem,” the nation of Hashem.
The entire world, even Amalek, knew that Jews are the descendants of Avrohom, that they are the Chosen Nation, meaning that they are the nation of Hashem. But when the political “Ivri” arose, he proclaimed himself to the world as a member of a national state, meaning he severed the nation (“Am”) from Hashem, Who defined it. And one of the first things he did was to take certain parts of Torah and mitzvos and reform them. Thus, within the Yidden there developed two types of “Ivrim, one a Torah and mitzvos “Ivri” and the other, a political “Ivri.
With this introduction, the words of Yona the Prophet become abundantly clear: “And he told them ‘I am an Ivri, and Hashem, the G-d of heavens, I fear’”. (Yona 1:9) Yona did not suffice with the name “Ivri”; instead he found it necessary to add the qualification implied by the words “Hashem the G-d of the heavens I fear”. This was because at that time there already existed the two above-mentioned types of “Ivrim” – the true kind and the false kind. And therefore Yona had to add the distinction of yiras Shamayim to demonstrate to them that he was from the true Ivrim.
***
The Yidden could not tolerate such sacrilege brought about by the false “Ivrim”, and despite the heartbreak this entailed, the Jews separated themselves from the name “Ivri” and took upon themselves the name Yehudi.
The name Yehudi (see Megilla 13a) implies that the Torah Jew is distancing the political “Ivri,” who serves idols as a means to support his political ends. But more crucially, the name Yehudi also indicates that the stamp of self-sacrifice is dictated directly by the pintele Yid to fulfill mitzvos and to battle with all the aberrant deeds of those who want to deny Hashem, His Torah, and His promise to redeem us.
As one of the king’s closest advisors, Haman HaRasha (“the Wicked”) was very well acquainted with the political “Ivrim”. He socialized with them often, and they ate and drank together. Yet Haman, in his fraternizing with the political “Ivrim”, never found their ancestry to be in issue. In all his interactions with them there was not a scintilla of recognition that they were of Jewish stock. When they spoke the Hebrew language among themselves, Haman didn’t even take notice. In addition to all his positive dealings with them, the political “Ivrim” bowed down and prostrated for the rasha, and when Haman HaRasha proceeded with his anti-Jewish scheming and libeling, it did not phase them. Thus, Haman could not comprehend why Mordechai was different than the rest of the “Ivrim”. He – Mordechai – is a political person, Haman reasoned with himself. He is a polyglot, and he frequently meets with the highest sovereigns, so why is he – Mordechai – different than the other “Ivrim”?!
Finally the matter became clear to him. Haman’s advisors told him that Mordechai is a Yehudi, and they clarified for him the quintessential difference between an “Ivri” and a Yehudi. “Ivri”, they explained to Haman, is a political title which could refer even to a Jew who opposes the Jewish religion, and may have beliefs antithetical to those held by the true Torah Jew. It is just a term signifying a superficial classification, denoting and implying no more than a certain country and a certain nation living there, and it has nothing to do with the religion and the lineage of the person it is referencing. The name Yehudi however, symbolizes the true Jew, who believes in G-d, Blessed Be He, and fulfills Torah and mitzvos with the greatest self-sacrifice and devotion.
Haman HaRasha, who had the best feelings of friendship towards the political “Ivri”, felt the greatest enmity and hatred to the true Yehudi. It was only then that he truly understood why Mordechai not only refused to bow, but he would not even “stand up for or tremble before him” (Megilla 5:9).
***
Honor can be given in one of two ways, and these two different ways stem from two different sources. The first type of honor originates in recognition and the second kind of honor is a result of trembling and fear.
To explain: the honor that comes from recognition comes as an outcome of reverence. However, honor than results from fear comes as an outcome of trembling and intimidation. These two distinct modes of procuring honor are brought out in Hebrew “kam” (standing up) and “zah” (trembling). When a person feels reverence for another person, he stands for him out of respect for his greatness. On the other hand, someone who is afraid of authority will show him respect out of terror and with trembling. The Megilla retells that Mordechai “Lo kam v’lo zah”(he did not get up nor did he tremble). Haman was bothered by Mordechai’s not standing up as well as by his not trembling. Haman – no matter how puerile and intoxicated he may have been – was very well aware that the great honor that he was afforded by the king’s subjects was not a reverential respect, but a respect borne from fear. Because he had unlimited powers given to him by King Achashverosh to punish anyone and in any way he wanted, everybody therefore feared him and gave him respect with great trembling.
***
Even though Haman HaRasha had made a distinction between the “Ivri” and the “Yehudi” Jews, and intended only to annihilate the “Yehudim” (r”l) and not the false “Ivrim”, the political lickspittlers and trucklers, Haman’s sons and cronies made no distinction between them. In their own minds, the “Ivri” and “Yehudi” Jews were one and the same. They rejected them completely, everywhere expelling them with insults and shame.
For the “Ivrim”, their decadent lifestyle and their servile flattering did not help them in any way. Their enemies took away their palaces, their gold, their silver and their possessions, and they expelled them from their homes, persistently reminding them of their origins that they had so willfully forgotten. Thus the global persecution of the descendants of Avrohom fell without a distinction between Yehudi and Ivri.
***
During this bitter time, Mordechai intensified his involvement in Jewish education, and in the capital of Shushan alone he gathered twenty two thousand children who learned Torah and observed Mitzvos with self-sacrifice, thereby displaying their pride in their Jewish identity.
All the Jews – Yehudim – men and women, young and old, learned and ignorant, were consumed with the fire of self-sacrifice.
All, without distinction, were prepared to let themselves be killed, slaughtered and burned for keeping Shabbos and Kashrus, for keeping Family Purity and for putting on T’fillin, and, with the greatest Jewish pride, mocked Haman’s clique and the gentile religious authorities.
It was only then that the “Ivri” Jews understood the truth of Mordechai’s words. He had warned them years earlier that they should not rely on their political scheming, their wealth, or their government connections. With one blow from Hashem, the influential politician became a commoner, and the biggest millionaire became destitute. They were totally broken, physically and emotionally.
With an unwavering, upright stance displayed through self-sacrifice, the “Yehudi” Jews revealed the “Pintele Yid” (the quintessence of the Jew which never is and never can be severed from G-d, and which can never be extinguished) in each of the “Ivri” Jews – – that they too should return to the true wellsprings of pure unadulterated belief in Hashem and to a life of devoted to Torah and Mitzvos.
A large number of “Ivrim” gave up the false ideal of the “Jew sans G-d and Torah”. They separated themselves from the ideology of the political “Ivrim” and began keeping Shabbos, Kashrus, Family Purity and T’fillin.
To encapsulate: The overall Jewish spiritual state in the capital Shushan, as well as in the one hundred twenty seven countries, was one of true devotion and self sacrifice for Torah and Mitzvos.
***
Haman and his clique proceeded with the depraved goal to annihilate, G-d forbid, the Jews from all the lands of Achashverosh’s kingdom. As he remained undecided as to the exact date on which he would carry out his plans, he threw a lottery. The most appropriate day, as indicated by the raffle, was to be the 13th day of the month of Adar. In the year Three Thousand Four Hundred and Four, on the 13th day of Nissan, the king’s edict was dispatched to all 127 countries, that the thirteenth day of Adar of the coming year – – in 11 months approximately – – would be the day on which all the nations were to annihilate, G-d forbid, the Jews.
For three days, there was a widespread movement of t’shuva in all Jewish communities throughout Achashverosh’s kingdom, and on that third day, which was also the first day of Pesach in the year 3,404, it was decreed in the Heavenly Court that G-d should send a salvation for all the Jews in the kingdom of Achashverosh.
The very next day, Mordechai was learning the laws of K’mitza with a group of students (laws regarding the procedure for scooping out the flour and oil of a meal offering). These children observed as the grand minister, Haman HaRasha, proceeded towards – L’havdil – – Mordechai. It is impossible for us to imagine accurately the situation of how Haman approached Mordechai. To illustrate the emotions of the moment, keep in mind that the Jews at that time were prepared to be killed; they knew that in just 12 months they were all slated for genocide. Jews who were ten years in Russia would related to this well; they can clearly imagine in their minds how a “melamed” (Torah teacher for young Jewish children) felt seeing the “badge” (i.e. the government representatives).
Mordechai told his students: “Run away, so that you will be saved from the Rasha’s hands.” But all his students responded in one voice: “We are with you, whether in life or death!”
This pure, heartfelt cry of self sacrifice that these children expressed, that “we are with you whether in life or death”, demonstrated the level of self-sacrifice by which the Jews at that time were holding.
***
There is a well known saying that Yom Kippurim means that the sacred day of Yom Kippur is equal in status to the day of Purim.
In Chassidus, this issue is clarified at length. Without the Chassidic explanation it is very difficult to understand how the holy day of Yom Kippur can be compared to the day of Purim!
Chassidus explains that the service on Yom Kippur involved the sacrificing of two goats. One was brought as a Chatas offering, while the other, the “Azazel”, was stoned. Both goats had to be identical in every way: in color, in height, and in price. The only way to determine which goat was to be a Chatas sacrifice and which an Azazel offering was through a lottery, because a lottery operates at a very high, ruchnius level.
Haman was well aware that the Jews are very important in Hashem’s eyes, so he made a lottery, hoping that through the lottery he would be able to find the correct date for the – -G-d forbid – – Jewish annihilation.
But Haman was badly mistaken. He did not truly understand the great extent to which Hashem loves the Jewish people, as they are called “Children of Hashem”. He did not correctly assess the great self-sacrifice of the Jewish heart. He could not comprehend the tremendous revolution that repentance and self sacrifice impact on high.
Thus, Hashem enacted the great salvation of the Purim miracle, saving the “Yehudi”, both his body and soul, together.
***
In summation:
Jews had torn themselves away from Torah and Mitzvos and believed that they could become an autonomous nation, replacing their natural status as “Am Hashem,” the Nation of Hashem.
The brazen “Ivri” arose, a Jew without belief in Hashem and without Torah and Mitzvos, who corrupted the true “Ivri” title.
The Torah Jews then abandoned the name “Ivri” and adopted the name “Yehudi”, which expresses the tremendous self-sacrifice for Torah and Mitzvos observance of which a Jew is capable.
Haman and his cohorts proceeded to expel all Jews, even the “Ivri’ Jews, with great denigration and shame. They destroyed their whole existence, and they become broken both physically and morally.
The great oppression and self-sacrifice of the “Yehudi” Jews brought out the “Pintele Yid” not only in those “Yehudim”, but also by the “Ivri” Jews. Through this they also returned to Yiddishkait, bringing about a salvation for the entire nation. The pure self sacrifice of the young Jewish children’s hearts led to the hanging of Haman and his sons.
***
Regarding the miracle of Purim, the Megilla states: “And these days are commemorated and are done in every generation, every family, every country and every city, and the days of Purim will not cease from the Jewish people and their memory will not be forgotten from their descendants”.
In a literal sense, everyone knows and understands very well what these words mean. However, upon closer examination, it is critical to note the seeming redundancy of the words “and the days of Purim will not cease from the Jewish people – Yehudim – and their memory will not be forgotten from their descendants”. This means that as a result of the miracle of Purim there must be Yehudim, Jews who act with self-sacrifice for Torah and mitzvos.
The current global revolutions remind us Jews about the Hamans of old, who are presently reappearing with renewed vigor. There is a certain faction of the Jewish people who have forgotten that they are the nation of Hashem; “they told Hashem, ‘Go away from us, we don’t want to know Your ways.” (Job 21:14). These are Jews, “Ivri” Jews, without faith and without Torah and mitzvos. They have totally forgotten their own heritage and that they are still in exile.
In Haman’s time, those “Ivri” Jews embraced the galus life with open arms and with joyous song. They didn’t want to know that the redemption was approaching. Foolish hedonists, they did not want to hear of the redemption. Mordechai’s warning words in Malachi’s prophecy were scoffed at. It was a time of sh’fot ha’shoftim, when anybody who had a minimum of financial wherewithal had the great impudence to denigrate the Torah scholars. And when the time of salvation arrived, the political assimilated “Ivri” Jew saw and felt that his political connectedness was of no help and provided him with no security.
Reader Comments (1)