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Tzav
Purim is the strangest of all of our holidays. It is the only holiday that actually happened in a land far away from Israel. It is based upon the only book of the Bible that does not even once mention God’s name. It is the only holiday during which we do not say Hallel. It is the only holiday, which celebrates a person, and it is the only holiday that the person celebrated is a woman.
Purim happened when the Jewish community had settled in Persia after being exiled from Israel. They had considered themselves as Persians until Haman became prime Minister and tried to exterminate them. Even during those dark days Mordecai, the Jew, was able to walk freely wherever he wanted in the kingdom. He was able to get closer to approach royal buildings with more freedom than we have to approach the White House.
Indeed the Persian society was a free society. People lived together and celebrated together. In the holiday that is being celebrated at the beginning of the Book of Esther, we find all the citizens from all the provinces celebrating together. Save the entrance by Haman, there seems to be very little prejudice in that ancient society.
There were also very few morals in that society, and what justice that did exist was defined by the Shah who was clearly above the law. When he did not like the decisions of his wife, Vashti, he had her put to death. And he ordered that his practice would be the law of the land. When Haman came and told him that he wanted to destroy the Jewish people, the Shah agreed. And with his agreement the law was made and had to be obeyed. There were no methods to amend or abrogate the law. The Jews would die.
And when the Shah decided to find himself a new wife, every woman that he chose in the kingdom had to give fealty to him. That was the law. When he married Esther, she became the queen because the Shah had so decided. And when he decided to kill Haman and his cohorts before they had the opportunity to kill the Jewish community that was the law also. Haman had no recourse to another kind of justice. He could not plead his case to an independent judiciary; there was no representative governing body to which he could turn.
In the end the Jewish community was saved and the wicked people who desired their destruction were themselves destroyed. For the moment the ending was happy, but for the next thousands of years Persia (Iran) suffered under rulers who could make whatever law they decided.
You see the Book of Esther is a paradigm of how society acts when one man (or woman) has all the power. In those days the likes of King Ahashveros and Saddam Hussein held all power; and they were capricious in the way they used that power. Only with the American and French Revolutions did the idea of representative government develop.
You might say that the end of the story of Esther began with the American Revolution in 1776
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Rabbi Aaron Kriegel |
Cantor Marsha Schreier |
President Marc Wurgaft |
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© 2004 Congregation Beth Ahm of West Essex |
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