At the end of the Scroll or Book of Esther, which tells the story of Purim, it is written, Mordecai recorded these things, and send letters to all the Jews who were in the provinces of King Ahaseurus, both near and far, enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days of sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor. So the Jews adopted as a custom what they had begun to do, as Mordecai had written to them. (Book of Esther 9:20-23)
This year, the 14th day of the month of Adar falls on March 14.Sermon:
Two years ago in this chapel, I told the story of Purim at a service for all ages. I said how Purim is not a major Jewish holiday, but is one of the most festive and light-hearted of holidays. Itís when children at temple dress up in costumes as the characters in the Purim story and put on parades and carnivals. Itís when Jews eat a triangular pastry filled with prunes or poppy seeds called a hamentash. I dimly remember celebrating Purim as a youngster at Temple Emanuel in Newton. It was sort of a fun, family-oriented Jewish Mardi Gras.
However, Purim is really about a serious historical event. It celebrates the salvation of the Jewish people living in Persia from almost certain death. Actually most Jewish holidays are like that celebrating some time in history when God saved the Jewish people. Thereís a Jewish joke that goes something like this: "Jewish holidays are all the same. Our enemies set out to destroy us. With God's help, we struggled and won. Hurray! Now letís go eat! "
In general, Jews are commanded in the bible to remember the history of their people. Remembering history is the core of Jewish identity for history is where the special covenant between God and the Jewish people is played out. By the covenant, Jews have a unique responsibility to bring Godís messages of ethical living and justice and mercy to the world. Itís curious to note that despite the centrality of this covenant, in the original Hebrew version of the Book of Esther, God isnít mentioned at all. The rabbis later interpreted this to mean that God was working behind the scenes on behalf of His people. Thereís a second Greek version which corrected this problem and added God to the story.
As a way of remembering, it is the custom in Orthodox synagogues to read the entire Book of Esther during the worship service. Certain rituals surround this reading, such as making loud noises with noisemakers to drown out the name of the villain, Haman.
Purim is named from the Hebrew word pur, meaning lot, after the lots the evil Haman tossed to choose the month and day in which to destroy the Jews. In ancient times the holiday was also called the Day of Mordecai, because along with Esther Mordecai is a hero of the story. I donít know when the story happened (or if it actually happened since thatís in dispute), but it was probably in the 6th Century Before the Common Era or BCE.
Hereís the setting. Mordecai was a descendent of King Saul and of the Jews who were exiled after the fall of the Temple to Babylon. Mordecai and his young cousin Esther, whom he adopted after her parents died, lived in Susa, the capital city of the empire. At the time of the Purim story, the Persians had taken over by the Babylonian Empire and controlled land from India to Ethiopia. An old painting which used to hang in our church hallway showed a sad scene from the Bible. You may know the biblical verse: ìBy the rivers of Babylon-- there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. (Psalm 137) The Jews were not only sorrowful over the loss of their homeland, but because they were suffering as a despised and tormented minority in a foreign land.
Fortunately, the first Persian rulers were more tolerant than the Babylonians, letting some of the Jews return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. But life in the Persian Empire was still pretty rough. The Jews out of allegiance to the one true God refused to bow before the Persian gods or to totally adopt the Persian way of life. They lived all over the empire, but lived together in community and stuck to their religious way of life as instructed by their rabbis. This did not make them at all popular with the Persian rulers or the ordinary people. They were just too darn different. Itís the ancientóand modernóstory of xenophobia.
The story in the Book of Esther is a tale of court intrigue. It goes like this:
Long, long ago, the king of Persia was Ahasuerus and his queen was Vashti. Ahasuerus was a very proud king who had much wealth and control of many lands. He lived in the citadel city of Susa in a grand palace. The king liked to show off his wealth, so he threw a great banquet for many important guests from all over the kingdomÖ for nobles and governors and army generals. The celebration lasted for 180 days. Queen Vashti gave a separate banquet for the women since men and women lived very separateÖ and unequalÖ lives in those days.
One day when the king was quite drunk, he ordered Queen Vashti to appear before his guests in her royal crown to show off her beauty. Some scholars think this meant that she was to appear naked before them wearing only her crown. Vashti, we assume out of a sense of pride and/or modesty, refused the kingís command. Many women might admire her spirit, although probably not her foresight.
The king, who was an absolute ruler with a short temper, got very angry. He consulted his advisors (all male) and asked them what to do with Queen Vashti. They said that she was setting a bad example for all the wives of the empire. If the king let her get away with this, then all the noble wives would know about it and have contempt for their husbands and rebel. I think the noble advisors were probably thinking of their own wives. Ahaseurus followed their advice and then some. He deposed poor Queen Vashti and she probably was killedÖ although the text doesnít say. Then he sent out a letter to all the provinces declaring that every man should be master in his own house. Ouch!
After his anger subsided, Ahasuerus was lonely for a new queen. He issued a proclamation that the most beautiful virgins of the land were to appear at the palace in a kind of beauty pageant. The most beautiful and charming woman would be the new queen.
At Mordecaiís urging, Esther entered the contest. But he warned her to keep her Jewish identity secret. He figured it was good to have a loyal spy for the Jewish people within the palace. He and Esther would communicate by secret notes passed through some trusted servants within the royal court. Since Esther was not only beautiful, but clever and good at role playing, she was a good candidate for the job. She was also obedient to her adopted father, like a good Jewish girl should be. So Esther entered the beauty contest.
After a year of grooming in the royal court, the young virgins were paraded before the king. They each spent a night alone with Ahasuerus as he tried each of them outÖ like a road test to put it somewhat crudely. After that, if they were lucky, they got to join the royal harem. During this trial, Esther won the kingís ìfavor and devotion,î not only for her beauty, but for her charm. The royal crown was set upon her head.
Meanwhile, outside, Mordecai overhead two soldiers plotting to kill Ahasuerus. He quickly passed a note to Esther, who informed the king. The story of how the kingís life was saved was entered into the palace records.
Now the kingís chief advisor was named Haman, who was an Amalekite, time-long enemies of the Jews. Haman was a most wicked and proud man, who expected everyone to bow down to him as he walked through the streets. But Mordecai would not bow before Haman since a good Jew only bowed to God. Haman was very angry and decided to kill not only Mordecai, but every Jew in Persia. To decide on the most favorable day for the slaughter, Haman cast the purim or lots and came up with the numbers 13 and 12. That meant the Jews were to be destroyed on the 13th day of the 12th month of the year, the month of Adar.
Haman was able to convince the king to go along with his plans. He told Ahaseurus that there was a group of people who refused to obey the kingís laws, but who only obeyed their own laws. Freedom of religion wasnít even dreamed of back then. The king didnít seem to think about this too long. So he sent a royal decree out to all parts of the kingdom to kill the Jews on the appointed day. Haman had a huge gallows built 50 cubits high (exaggerated to fairy tale proportions) on which to hang Mordecai.
Meanwhile, Morecai learned of the kingís decree to kill him and all the Jews of the empire and to take their property. He was shocked. It is written that Mordecai ìtore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went through the city, wailing with a loud and bitter cry.î Then he went to the entrance to the palace and got word to Esther about this terrible order.
In his letter, Mordecai pleaded with her to go to the king on behalf of their people and persuade the king to spare them. This took a little coaxing, because anyone who appeared before the king unbidden would be put to deathÖ unless the king extended the golden scepter to them. Rather risky business, Esther replied, implying that she wouldnít do it.
Mordecai wrote back, ìDo not think that in the kingís palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your fatherís family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.
At last Esther agreed. She knew the stakes were high, but her brave action may be the only way to save the Jews. Esther fasted for three days... we presume to have God on her side. And so did all the Jews in the city of Susa at her secret request. At the end of the fast, Esther gathered her courage and went before the king. As fortune (or God) would have it, the king smiled, stretched his arm out with the scepter and asked Esther what she wanted. Youíd expect her to plead with the king outright, but she said she only wanted to invite him and Haman to a private banquet. The king was flattered and accepted.
Then the king had a sleepless night. He called for the palace records to be read to him. From those he learned of Mordecaiís part in saving his life. Ahasuarus vowed to honor him. The next day, he asked Haman how he should honor a special person, not naming who this special person was. Naturally, being terribly vain, Haman thought the king was planning to honor him. So he described a most elaborate ceremony: clothing the hero with royal robes and crowning him with a royal crown. He would mount a royal horse. Then a noble official would lead him through the streets declaring, ìThus shall it be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.î In a cruel twist of fate, the king ordered Haman to so honor Mordecai! Haman did this against his will and is most humiliated. But it gets worse for our villain.
At Estherís banquet, after many twists and turns of the plot, Hamanís evil plot against Mordecai and the Jews is revealed. Ahaseurus finds out that Esther is Jewish, but loves her madly anyway and wants to spare her and her people. Haman is hanged on the gallows that he had made for Mordecai. Our hero Mordecai is promoted to chief advisor. Great story! A story of survival of an innocent and much persecuted people. The good guys win in the endÖ at least this time... and justice is served. The Book of Esther instructs the Jewish people to remember this triumph through ìa day of feasting and gladness.
Ever since then, Purim has been celebrated by Jews around the world in joyous festivities, carnivals, parades and poems and plays satirizing the characters. And throughout the centuries, Jewish communities have celebrated second ìPurimsî wherever and whenever they have escaped from danger and persecution. They have written their own stories on scrolls as symbols of their salvation.
But the Book of Esther doesn't end with Mordecaiís promotion to chief advisor. It seemed a royal decree, once sent out, canít be repealed even by the king. The Jews were slated for destruction by their neighbors who hated them. So Ahaseurus allowed the Jews to defend themselves against attacks by their enemies. On that fateful day of Adar and the next day as wellÖ they fight many battles and slay many enemies. Hundreds were killed in some places, thousands in others. It is a rare moment of victory in Jewish history. The gloating in this final chapter is perhaps understandable for a people who usually got the short end of the stick.
But later rabbis (perhaps during the rise of anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages) were uncomfortable with this ending and chose to downplay or ignore its war-like, bloody message. The focus of Purim was shifted to the survival of the Jewish people in a time of great adversity. This is a real cause for celebration and had continuing relevance to their lives.
Today parts of the story may not go down well with people. And I have some difficulties with the Book of Esther. We may wonder what to make of poor Queen Vashti, who kept her honor, but who lost her crown... and maybe her life. What about the edict for all women to obey their husbands? Certainly feminists, Jewish or not, have a problem with this. What do we do with a heroine who wins a beauty contest? On the other hand, we can admire the loyalty, bravery, and cunning of Esther, even if she initially earns the kingís favor by her feminine charms. Is this a post-feminist heroine?
In a post-Holocaust world, thoughtful and progressive Jews are sensitive to the issues of oppression and genocide against any people. In the 1990ís they openly opposed ìethnic cleansingî by Serbs in Bosnia against the Muslims. Today they speak out against the Junjaweed attacks on defenseless Africans in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, Nobel Prize winner and founder of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, is perhaps the most outspoken and well-known Jewish campaigner against genocide around the world. There are also several Jewish humanitarian organizations which do so, including the American Jewish World Service. Ruth Messinger, Executive Director of the World Service, said this when speaking about Darfur, ìThe expression ëNever againí cannot be reserved only for Jews.1 Ms Messinger has traveled twice in the past two years to refugee camps in both Sudan and Chad and is a leader in an interfaith effort to end genocide. The organization encourages Jews everywhere, especially young people, to get involved with social justice and anti-poverty projects, much like our own UU Service Committee.
For at least a hundred years, many Jews have advocated for a Jewish renewal, which, like Unitarian Universalism, focuses on a more universal religious message: We're all children of the same God. I think it's most appropriate that I close with the same Purim prayer I offered two years ago. Itís from an old prayer book I inherited from my parents. Ironically, this was written in 1932, before the modern Holocaust. I took the liberty of updating some of the language:
This day we pray to Thee, O Lord, who loves peace, that all hatred among people shall end forever. May no Hamans arise again. May no one ever try to arouse prejudice against any religion or race. Let all nations learn to recognize that they have the same Heavenly Father, and let the followers of all religions know that they are brothers and sisters.
Grant us a share of the courage of Esther and of the wisdom of Mordecai. May our hearts never harbor narrow prejudice. May we never mock any race, or scorn any nation. May we never hate anyone. With tolerant minds and friendly spirit, may we learn to be tru children of the people of Israel, which has ever taught the hope that all people will be united in the worship of Thee.2
Amen.
Francine Klagsbrun, Jewish Days: A Book of Jewish Life and Culture Around the Year. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1996.