Boker Tov and “welcome in” to Mishkan Katan for another week. We are taking a short break from exegeting a book of the Bible to focus on the Jewish holiday of Purim, as it begins tomorrow evening at sundown, if you are watching this in real time. So, since I’ve not taught on Purim as a distinct holiday, I thought it would be timely to do so today. IF you are unfamiliar with the story, please pause the video right now, and go read that short book of the Bible, because although I will refer to the book of Esther in today’s teaching, I will not go through it verse by verse. I have a set of teachings in which I exegete that book, and they are available on my YouTube channel, on the playlist called Messianic LAMB TV Network.
I will also point out, while I’m talking about “real time”, that there is to be a total lunar eclipse over North America tomorrow night as well, and the planets (that is, the so-called “wandering stars”) have been making some interesting alignments the past few weeks. I have a friend who says that God often shows us things in the stars before He brings them to pass on the Earth. An example of that, of course, was the Star of Bethlehem, a “wandering star”, actually what is known as “the king’s planet”, Jupiter. That’s another teaching, of course.
“Purim” means “lots”, or “dice” as in casting lots to determine an outcome. Proverbs 16:33 says
“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” And, that is a key theme of the book of Esther, and the celebration of Purim, that Elohim does not deal in “chance” or “luck” or “coincidences”. HE is the Master of all in our universe and, indeed, in all universes. He supervises all outcomes, even when “rolling the dice”.
Well, as most of you know, there were certain “holy convocations”, sometimes called “appointed times”, sometimes called “mo’edim” (Hebrew) commanded by Father Yahweh, in the books of Moses, specifically in Leviticus 23. These were to be kept as “everlasting statutes”. Purim was not mentioned among those Temple celebrations. Rather, Purim is more of what you might call a “rabbinical holiday”, more of a happy day, as opposed to the mo’edim, a national holiday for the nation of Israel. That being the case, should those who follow Yeshua as Mashiach “keep” Purim?
There is more midrash (rabbinical discussion/teaching) about the book of Esther, the biblical book on which Purim is based, than any other book in the Bible. Some in the midrashim feel that the book was written to Mordecai, and that Esther appealed to the sages of her day to include the book in the Hebrew canon. “Sages” in this context means the decision-making body of the Jews of that day, i.e. the Sanhedrin, the men of the Great Assembly during Ezra’s lifetime. Because of the Amalekite connection, it was included. One of the points of contention was that the name of Yahweh was not mentioned explicitly in the book at all. It is postulated that this is because one of the themes of the book of Esther is “concealment”. But just because you don’t openly see it does not mean it is not there. It’s sort of like the sun on a cloudy day. You don’t see the sun, but it is still there. It is hidden. The Name IS hidden four times within the book, however, and this is why in Jewish circles Esther is referred to as “the book of the hidden”. Another interesting fact is that every other book of the Hebrew scriptures was found in the scrolls of Qumran, the Dead Sea scrolls, ... except for the book of Esther. Therefore, Esther, and by association, Purim, has been a contentious topic for centuries, at least in some respects. Still, overall, the Book of Esther commands high respect among the Jewish sages and people. For instance, Maimonides, the Rambam, praised this book as being close in rank to that of the five books of Moses themselves. He said, “When the Messiah comes, only Esther and the Torah will remain.” I don’t agree with him on that, for obvious reasons, because that excludes an awful lot of great Scripture. But, his statement makes the point that Esther is highly regarded.
On the other hand, many Christian theologians, including Martin Luther, have expressed disdain for the story of Esther. Luther once said that the entire book should be thrown into the River Elba, for instance. Weiser, B.W. Anderson, Paton and others have made defamatory statements about the book, mainly because the essential message was misunderstood or because the book was felt to justify bloodthirsty ethnic pride in being Jewish, or because the message of the book of Esther runs contrary to that of the false Church doctrine of “replacement theology”. Sadly, more Christian anti-Semitic statements have been made regarding this book of the Bible than any other of the Tanakh. Why? Because anti-Semitism is of the Amalekite demonic spirit.
All of that being the case, I think we should celebrate Purim, for a number of reasons. But, before we get to those, let’s take a look at how Purim came about in the first place. To do so, we must start with that “Amalekite connection” I mentioned a few moments ago.
The story of Purim and Esther is a historical story as well as an eternal story. The latter aspect of it starts back in the book of Exodus (ch. 17:14-16) when the Amalekites (Amelki) attacked the rear guard of the people as they left Egypt. Let’s read about this, using the CJB version.
14 Adonai said to Moshe, “Write this in a book to be remembered, and tell it to Y’hoshua: I will completely blot out any memory of ‘Amalek from under heaven.” 15 Moshe built an altar, called it Adonai Nissi [Adonai is my banner/miracle], 16 and said, “Because their hand was against the throne of Yah, Adonai will fight ‘Amalek generation after generation.”
The Amalekites could be called “the first anti-Semites", and these verses make clear that Adonai, Father Yahweh, is against the anti-Semitic spirit that was manifested in that people group. It has appeared over and over through the centuries. It showed up in the first century CE when Claudius, Emperor Rome, as we mentioned last week, expelled all the Jews from Rome. It appeared over and over again in Eastern Europe, which is what led America to have the second largest Jewish population in the world, with only the nation of Israel having more. It showed up with the Nazi extermination of over 6 million Jews. And, today, it is very apparent in the Muslim world, most notably among Hamas, and those who support the works of Hamas. As it states in the Passover Hagaddah: “Those arise who will wipe us out.”
Because of their heinous, cowardly actions, God declared that He would have war with the Amalekites “from generation to generation”. When Saul, the first king of Israel, came to power, God told him to completely wipe out the Amalekites. He did not do so; he just did a partial job, because he was greedy for the spoils of war. This was a failure of not only Saul, but also of his family, the family of Kish, a family of the tribe of Benjamin. This is an important detail to remember, because the family of Kish was given a chance to redeem themselves in the story of Esther, as both Mordecai and Esther were of the family of Kish, and redeem their family name they surely did! This is a parallel to the failure of the First Adam, in Genesis, and the triumph of The Last Adam, our Mashiach.
AND, to make these family associations even more interesting....Haman was an Agagite, which is a reference to his Amalekite lineage. A descendant of Esau, a grandson of his, Amalek, did not seem to believe in the reconciliation that ultimately took place between Jacob and Esau. So, Amalek showed up just after the Exodus. Agag is the title applied by the Amalekites to their kings. Haman was a descendant of Amalekite kings.
Therefore, not only was Haman an Amalekite, he was also an Agagite. He was a royal Amalekite! Haman was trying to kill Ya’akov in his generation. He thought to carry through the threat his ancestor harbored in his heart. The Parsha right before Purim is Parshot Zachor, (remembrance), and it is all about remembering the actions of the Amalekites.
So, the main reason I believe we who claim Yeshua as our Messiah should keep Purim is because it is a show of solidarity with God’s chosen people, the Jews. This is especially important in our current day, when the modern-day Amalekites are threatening to push the nation of Israel into the Mediterranean Sea “from the river to the sea”, as those hateful sub-human people are fond of saying.
Another reason we should celebrate this happy day is to affirm that Father Yahweh has and WILL keep His promises....to defeat the Amalekites in the last battle at the end of this age, and to defeat the ultimate Amalekite king, Satan, when he is thrown into the Lake of Fire. One of the clearest indications of this was how Yeshua was raised from the dead, in victory. This took place on Nisan 17 that year, on the feast of First Fruits. The story of Esther and Mordecai’s defeat of the Amalekite, Haman, likewise took place on Nisan 17! Isn’t that amazing? Let’s look at the timeline briefly.
The edict to kill all the Jews was to happen on Adar 13, the 13th day of the 12th month. Today, Adar 13 is observed as a Fast Day (Ta’anit Esther), with this being the first of the Purim observances. Why do those who keep this holiday fast on that day, other than the fact that 13 Adar was the day Haman’s evil edict was to take place? Jewish tradition gives the following reasons, among others:
The following month, Nisan, fasting is not allowed.
Fasting was common before warfare, and the Jews planned to rise up and kill their enemies on the 14th and 15th Adar.
To affirm to Father Yahweh that they are utterly dependent on Him for victory, that only by His divine will and actions would they prevail in battle.
The fast begins at daybreak and ends after the scroll of Esther is read that evening in the synagogue. There are synagogue services during the day on the 13th as well.
And then, Party Purim is celebrated beginning after sunset, which starts the 14th and for a second day on the 15th of Adar, a two-day festival. On Adar 14, while the outer provinces were celebrating their victory over 75,000 enemies, the Jews of the capital city of Shushan were still fighting. The city dwelling Jews did not celebrate until the 15th. Therefore, Purim is always marked on either the 14th and 15th of Adar, for this reason. In the early days of its celebration, the unwalled areas celebrated on the 14th and the walled cities celebrated on the 15th, which came to be known as Shushan Purim. Of course, a complicating factor was and is that it is difficult to determine which area was a walled city in the days of Joshua, a rabbinical standard that was adopted after the first few years. So, for all practical purposes, Purim is celebrated on the 14th by observant Jews and observant followers of Yeshua, except for Jerusalem, which celebrates on the 15th because it was awarded special status. Several other ancient cities in Israel celebrate on both the 14th AND the 15th.
This year, in 2025, as this broadcast is going out live, the fast day, Ta’anit Esther, begins at daybreak tomorrow, March 13th, and Purim “proper” begin at sundown that same day, as Adar 14 begins at sundown, as do all the Jewish days. Purim is over at sundown on Friday, March 14th, if you celebrate one day only. Shabbat then begins that Friday night at sundown, which will be late because we will be in the first week of (everybody’s favorite - - just kidding) Daylight Saving Time!
“But, Gena,” you are saying, “all this Adar celebration was all a month or so before Nisan 17, which is the first month of the year.“ Yes, the first Purim was celebrated 11 months AFTER the main story of Esther took place.
You see, although Haman was dead on Nisan 17, the king’s evil decree still stood against the Jews, with the extermination to take place 11 months in the future on Adar 13. So, a few days later, Queen Esther returned to the King with one last plea. “If it pleases the King, ….” Then, she took one gentle step forward….”If it seems right/fitting (kosher) to the King….” This is the only time the adjective “kashir” is ever used. “Fitting”. Another gentle baby step, “And if I am good in your eyes….”, how can you expect me to stand in this palace, safe and sound, and watch the evil that would befall my countrymen? She leveraged his desire to talk about what is actually right and what is actually wrong, a moral argument. She revealed to him that she is “of the vermin”, the despised ones that Haman wanted to exterminate. She is asking if, now that he knows she is of the lowly, if He still loves her. Accordingly, the king, who did in fact still love her, instructed Mordecai and Esther to write a competing, a cancelling decree that would be sent out all over the 127 provinces of the Persian kingdom over then next 11 months, and then Mordecai, in his new position as Haman’s successor, set about endearing himself to the people of Persia. Both these competing decrees would remain in effect, as they could not be cancelled. In the end, on the 14th and 15th of Adar the following year, a great miracle took place, as the rabbis say. The Jews rose up against their enemies, along with many of the good-hearted Persians, and thoroughly defeated them.
But, let’s back up to the main story which, as I said, occurred on a very similar timeline as the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua, with the utter defeat of Haman, the enemy of God, on the very same day as Yeshua triumphed over the grave and Satan, Nisan 17. Thus far, Yeshua’s finished work was the greatest Purim of all, since through His sacrifice and triumph we have eternal salvation. It is said that any day marked by deliverance from one’s enemies by the LORD can be called a “Purim.”
Nisan 17 is the same date Israel crossed the Red Sea and Pharoah was killed; Hezekiah cleansed the Temple Nisan 1-16 and the next day (Nisan 17) was Hezekiah’s celebration before the Lord; also the day Noah’s Ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. And, most importantly, the same day Yeshua rose from the dead.
However, the story is still ongoing isn’t it? Purim also has a future prophetic significance, in that the Jewish sages say that Purim will be celebrated even after the final defeat of the False Messiah (Antichrist) and of HaSatan, at the end of these earth ages. The FM will be overthrown by our LORD Himself, at the time of His Second Coming, (See Revelation 19:11-16) and then after the 1000-year Messianic Reign on Earth, HaSatan will be finally tossed into the Lake of Fire, in utter and most final defeat, just before the New Heaven and the New Earth are created. This will be the final fulfillment of Purim!
Perhaps this is why it is written in Esther 9:28 that Purim should be celebrated perpetually throughout all generations. Let’s look at that verse from the CJB:
28 and that these days would be remembered and observed throughout every generation, every family, every province and every city; and that these days of Purim would never cease among the Jews or their memory be lost by their descendants.
How was Purim celebrated then, and also how is it celebrated today? The first Purim was celebrated throughout the Persian kingdom. It was a day of re-telling the story of the defeat of Haman and the Amalekites. There was much joy and gladness, of feasting and of sending gifts to one another.
The Sanhedrin of the prophet Ezra’s day prescribed four mitzvot (commandments) to observe for Purim:
for festivities and rejoicing
For remembrance - - to read the story, the Megillah
For the giving and receiving of gifts, including
acts of charity, gifts to the poor.
Today, all of that is still in place, but, additionally, children and adults often dress up in costumes portraying one of the main characters in the story. As the story is told or re-read, the listeners “boo” and stomp their feet at the mention of the name of the villain, cheer for the hero and heroine, blow noisemakers, and just generally “carry on”. In some synagogues, the children do a pagaent, or a puppet show, during which they act out the story, with the adults generating the sound effects. The celebrants eat special delicacies, such as cookies shaped like Haman’s (rumored to be) triangular-shaped ears and/or a sumptuous Purim meal (called a seudah) is consumed, along with LOTS of alcohol (at least that is permitted) and so forth. It’s a huge “victory party”!
Let’s talk about Bible codes for a moment - - I am leery of bible codes in general, but there are Hebrew books about encoded messages in the Bible. And, some of them defy mathematical probability. In addition, there are many stories in the Bible that are played out, not once but which crop up later in history. I want to share a story with you about Esther’s revenge on Haman, and the fate of 11 of the most prominent Nazis in the Nuremburg Trials.
Esther petitioned King Ahasuerus to have Haman’s 10 sons hung on the gallows after they are dead. These gallows, intended for Mordecai, were in Haman’s back yard! Haman’s property was given to the Queen after his death, and then, Haman’s 10 sons were hung in Esther’s literal back yard!
The way the names were written in the Esther scroll, the names of these men were appearing to indicate that 10 additional men were hanged, although they were not. However, 2300 years later, 10 men were hanged. This took place in 1946/5707, on the last day of Sukkot, Hoshanah Rabba. They were 10 of the 11 Nazis, convicted in the Nuremberg Trials. One of the 11 committed suicide by poisoning himself the night before he was to be hanged.
In two of the sons’ names (sons of Haman), each of them had a reduced letter. The numerical value of those names, with their reduced letters, put together = 5707, the very year the 10 Nazis were hanged. The Jews called and still call the Nazis “Amalek”, the Amalki.
“Der Streumer” was the biggest propaganda newspaper against the Jews in Nazi Germany. It published some of the most anti-Semitic diatribes against the Jews, in history. Streiker was a leading Nazi persecutor of the Jews, by the end of the war. He was one of the 10 hanged. He was the last of the 10 to die. As he was about to die, he said, “Purim-fest, 1946!” He knew right who he was and where he was.
A third reason believers is Yeshua should celebrate Purim is that Yeshua likely did. It is well-known that He celebrated Chanukah, as recorded in John 10:22. Additionally, it is recorded in John 5 that He was in Jerusalem for an unnamed feast. It is likewise recorded that this feast occurred on a Sabbath (John 5:9). Lambert Dolphin has researched this and found that in the years 25-35 CE, only one feast day fell on a Shabbat, and that occurred in 28 CE. Due to other timing and chronology issues, Purim is the only likely candidate for this unnamed feast. Interesting, yes?
I’d like to share at this point an insight on Purim from my own local orthodox, Sephardic rabbi, who made some remarks at a gathering I was at this weekend. He noted that the name of Moses appears in every one of the parshat except for one, and that is the parsha from this past weekend, the so-called Parsha of Remembrance. It is the parsha where the Israelites are commanded to remember the animus between Elohim and Amalek, throughout all their generations. This parsha took place in real time while Moshe was on the mountain for the first 40 days. The people, still young and immature in their relationship with Yahweh, still influenced by the paganism from which they had been delivered, had begun to despair that Moshe would ever return. This lack of faith led them to persuade Aaron to make for them the infamous, idolatrous golden calf. Later, in Exodus 32, after Moshe had discovered their great sin, he asked Elohim to blot his name out of Yahweh’s book, if He would not forgive the Hebrew people. This bold and sacrificial move from Moshe is recorded in Exodus 32:32. And so, Moshe’s name does not appear in the Torah parsha that precedes Purim, read on Shabbat Zachor; his name has been “blotted out” of His (Elohim’s) book/Torah at that point, although Elohim did not say He would blot Moshe’s name out of the Book of Life in Heaven. Instead, remarkably, the Lord God (Ex. 32:14) “changed his mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.”
Now, we are going to look at some work done by Rabbi David Fohrman, concerning Purim. It will be a deep dive. Rabbi Fohrman has a gift for seeing the entire Hebrew Bible as connected, in that earlier stories are connected to later events. He has drawn some fascinating connections between the story of Esther, and Purim.
Let’s begin with the fact that the evil villain, Haman, plotted a mass genocide on a single day. Yet, at Purim, he is often treated as a sort of “cartoon villain”, when in reality he was no thing of the sort. Let’s take a more grown-up view. What do the sages say in the Talmud?
Are there any hints of Esther in the 5 Books of Moses? Of Haman? Of Mordecai?
Genesis - - Tree of Knowlege of Good and Evil - - Hay-Mem “Have you in fact eaten from ….” In Hebrew, the Hay and the Mem and the Nun are there in those words.
What exactly was the nature of this mysterious tree, The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? What was this godly kind of knowledge? It was more than just avoiding one, special tree. One theory is that we have over-thought the story. God alone knows “tov” and “lo-tov”, good and not-good. He is the arbiter of both. Evaluation and judgment are integral to being a creator. This is godly knowledge, though, exclusively in the realm of the Creator. Godly knowledge in the hands of mankind is not godly knowledge. It becomes the root of all evil. Desire comes into play, when humans begin to act on that knowledge. Look at the example of the internet. It is a body of knowledge which has produced great good; yet, it has also been responsible for great evil. Rabbi Fohrman uses the illustration of mac-and-cheese (desirable but low nutrition) and broccoli (not usually desirable, but high nutrition). Which one is actually “good”? Eve desired the fruit of the tree, “saw that it was good for food”. The fruit appealed to her desire. “Because I want it, that’s the way it should be.” In that kind of “post-tree” world, I am never wrong, because….that’s the way it should be. No one ever thinks they are wrong or evil anymore, in this world. Desire hides behind a smokescreen, masquerades as something “good”. It is a very poisonous thing.
What really WAS the temptation here? How could we have failed such an easy test? The temptation was to see themselves as the owner of the Garden. They were God’s guests in the Garden. It was an attempt to masquerade as God, when they yielded to temptation. The temptation to “play God”. Why do we reach for the one thing that we can’t have? So that we can pretend we have no restrictions. So that we can pretend we ARE King of our lives. It’s the Spirit of Rebellion, basically. If you can really convince yourself that you are King and that God is not, then you don’t GAIN the ability to make the distinction between what is truly good and what is not. Rather, as an imposter, a pretender, you LOSE your God-given conscience in any given situation. “What I want IS the way should be, because I am King! No guilt needed!”
What was God thinking here? What’s the deal with that? Why would He have put it there, if He did not want us to eat from it? When we give a child a gift, we want two things: 1) for them to enjoy it, and secondly, to remember that it came from me. These two bolster the relationship. The Tree in question was put there to remind them that the many gifts came from Him. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was exclusively His. It represented Him.
Allright, I know you are wondering where this is going, but hang with me.
There is a parallel btw Adam and Haman. Just as Adam and Eve chose to eat of the ONE tree they were forbidden, Haman went “nutso” over one man who would not bow down to him. Even after he had been invited to dine with the king, he stated that none of that mattered one whit to him, as long as Mordecai would not bow down. Like Adam, “I have everything, but it means nothing, because there is one thing I cannot have.” Like Eve, Haman’s wife, Zeresh goaded him to get that one thing he could not have. And, similarly, as Adam and Eve brought about their own spiritual deaths by eating of the forbidden fruit, so Haman brought about his or hastened his own physical death by giving into the lure of the gallows. The word for gallows, made of wood, is the same root as “tree” (Hebrew: aytz). Building the gallows for Mordecai? It is part of the obsession of wanting to be King. But, he is NOT King! He is just playing dress-up! He was a megalomaniac.
This fantasy that you can just conflate the two kinds of good is the real soul of the Tree of Knowledge challenge.
There are TWO Tree of Knowledge stories playing out in the Megillah. One involves the good guys - - Mordecai and Esther. Perhaps Mordecai and Esther are struggling with the same confusion about good and not-good as Zeresh and Haman struggled with.
Out of the harem, Esther became the one-in-a-million pick. At least on some level, God chose the mate for Ahasuerus. Reminiscent of Adam surveying the animals for a mate and none is suitable. Adam is all alone, and God convenes the inferiors for Adam to analyze and he ultimately rejects them. Yet, God chooses/creates a special person for him - - Eve.
The device Ahasuerus called his chosen one, by name. Naming was the device Adam used to try and find a special mate. He knows their names, and will never call them back again. These were the two beauty contests in the entire Tanakh.
Eve’s identity becomes “the forbidden knowledge”. After Esther was selected, Esther’s identity became forbidden knowledge. The language is the same, in the two passages. “A command upon” Adam, by God, and “a command upon” Esther, by Mordecai. It is a strange way of saying it. The word mit-ha-lake is used to described how Mordecai walked in front of the city gates. It is best translated, “He took himself for a walk.” or “He walked himself about”. This is the last time this word is used in the Hebrew Bible. The first time it is used? When God was mit-ha-lake in the Garden of Eden.
Then, it is turned on its head. Complete reversal.
Next, the command is turned on its head. Eve shared her forbidden knowledge and Mordecai commanded that Esther reveal her true identity to her husband, the King. It’s the same word that was used when he commanded her to hide her identity.
Her response, “I can’t do it; I will die.” Whenever forbidden knowledge is imparted, death is the result. But, Mordecai emphasized that she must give the forbidden knowledge to the King that will avert disaster.
Mordecai reiterates that if she does NOT go and impart the knowledge her and her father’s house will be destroyed, although the Jews will be saved by the Lord God himself.
Then, Esther issues a command: fast. Do not eat. And, he did all that she commanded him.
She is going to have delineate between what is desire and what is truly good.
Redeeming the Tree
Here we have the climax.
She approached the King four times. She will use the language of tov and ra (good and evil), to redeem the Tree story. It is though the Megillah is playing a sort of literary game with us.
The Invitation to a Banquet. “If you like this… I’d like to invite you to a banquet.
The Second Invitation - - still appealing to his desires
The Final Banquet - - Im ala melech tov. (If it pleases the King…)“Give me my life and give me my people’s lives too.” Here, she gives the tov and the ra. “Haman ha ra hazeh!”
She has not yet talked to the king about what is RIGHT, not just about what the King wants to do. Haman is dead, but the decree still stands. It has to end with what is right for him to do. So, a few days later, she returns to the King with one last plea. “If it pleases the King, ….” Then, she takes one gentle step forward….”If it seems right/fitting (kosher) to the King….” This is the only time the adjective “kashir” is ever used. “Fitting”. Another gentle baby step, “And if I am good in your eyes….”, how can you expect me to stand in this palace, safe and sound, and watch the evil that would befall my countrymen? She leveraged his desire to talk about what is actually right and what is actually wrong, a moral argument. What has she revealed to Him? That she is “of the vermin”, the despised ones that Haman wanted to exterminate. She is asking if, now that he knows she is of the lowly, if He still loves her. It is here in step 4 that she redeems the tree by bringing moral clarity to his vision. The story of Esther can thus be seen as two stories in one, with the redeeming the Tree of Knowledge story being “hidden” therein.
By contrast, Zeresh, Haman’s wife, never makes that moral argument with Haman. She is trying to make him happy, and thinks she is doing a good thing for him. She agrees with him, starting with his desires and ending with his desires.
But, love used for good must sometimes oppose. This is the kernel of “Love Must Be Tough”. Sometimes you must stand up to your loved one and say, ‘No’. These attitudes and/or actions will be hurtful for you and in some cases for others as well.
One more link from the story of Esther back to an earlier story in the Tanakh:
In Esther 4, “he let out a bitter cry” seems to be an almost direct quote of Genesis 27, where Esau let out a bitter cry. The rabbis say that anyone who thinks that God just sort of “lets things slide” or does not do justice, his life should be let to “slide”. God just bides his time; there will always be justice. They say that the episode in Shushan is “pay-back” to the children of Ya’akov for the tears they caused Esau. Esther is a story of “unfinished business”, a “getting their just desserts”, a “what goes around, comes around” story.
Let’s look more closely at the Ya’akov and Esau story. Esau begs Yitzak for a blessing, and after receiving the vastly inferior blessing, Esau cries out bitterly. Beheesom - - “a deep and abiding hatred” - - the type of hatred Esau had for Ya’akov. So angry he could kill his brother. Thank Yah, this murder never happens.
In both cases, there was mourning and fasting after the “great and bitter cry”. Genesis. 27: “Soon, the mourning for my father will come….” The anticipation of death.
The mourning in the Megillah is for future events as well, pre-emptive mourning. Almost as though it is a foregone conclusion. I mean, who can mourn after they are dead, right?
The blessing Ya’akov received was about “the dew of heaven”. His descendants did not receive this blessing until the Jews came out of Egypt. We see this language in Parshat Parshallah, in the form of manna. It sat on a bed of dew, from Heaven! “On the faces of the field”. In Hebrew, manna is “mem-nun”. Remarkably like Ha-mem—nun, Haman.
The blessing Esav actually received was far inferior to that given to Ya’akov.
More connections between the two passages:
Connections between verbs: “tells” “sends (clothes)” “calls” “commands”
(Esther’s actions toward Mordecai, when she hears he is at the city gates, in sackcloth and ashes)
In Genesis, after the resolution to kill Ya’akov
It was TOLD to Rivkah what was in Esau’s heart.
She sends for Ya’akov
She calls
She commands Ya’akov to run away to Laban’s land.
Crazy.
Themes of food, perfume, and concealment of identity are present in both stories. Rivkah gave Jacob food to take to Isaac, and helped him smell like Esav. Mordecai acted similarly toward Esther. Both “parents” commanded/told the child to conceal his/her identity.
Rivkah commands Ya’akov and Mordecai commands Esther.
There is a subtlety in both stories as to the deception. It was not “first degree” deception. In the beginning, in the Ya’akov story, it did not even appear that there was a plan to deceive. “No,” says Ya’akov, “it will seem as if I am deceiving him…”. {I think this is a disingenuous point. It seems obvious that deception was the intent of these shenanigans….}
He says, though, that both kids just outlive the parent’s decree and just keeps going with it, sort of going down a “slippery slope” of deception.
Beginning of Ch. 3 of Esther - - the language about “elevating” Haman is way overblown in the Hebrew. It seems an unnecessary, but it evokes similar language (Gimel, Dalet, Lamed) in the Esav/Ya’akov story. Esav is Bana haG’dol. The great son.
Well, we need to wind up here this morning, as we are out of time.
There are actually graves in Iran (formerly Babylon/Persia) that are designated as the graves of Mordecai and Esther. It is a heavily-guarded Jewish site, near a synagogue. Remember that Iran (Babylon) used to be one of the largest hubs of Jewry in the world.
Resources:
Moshe Katz, Hidden Codes in the Torah
Philip Goodman, The Purim Anthology
Rabbi David Foreman, The Queen You Thought You Knew
By Joseph and Debbie Good, The Prophecies from the Book of Esther (Amazon)
Let me close out our time together this morning with a Hebrew blessing for Purim, and I pray your Purim is a time of great joy and celebration. As 1 Chronicles 29:20 says, “Now bless the LORD your God!” Barechkhu-nah et-Yahweh Elohechem!
Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, Master of the Universe, Who has kept us alive and has sustained us, and brought us to this season. Amen.
PURIM SAMEACH!
