The Reversal of Fate: Purim’s Triumph Over Evil
The Megilla (Book of Esther), which we read on Purim, describes the great miracle by which the Jews were saved from utter destruction at the hands of their wicked antagonist, Haman. In brief, the refusal of Mordechai to bow down to Haman as per the royal edict triggered his wrath and his determination to annihilate all of the Jews who constituted “the nation of Mordechai. (Megillat Esther 3:6)”.
Had things gone as planned, the tragedy would have been worse than the Holocaust. For while in that brutal episode six million Jews perished, there still remained millions of Jews who were scattered across the earth. There remained a remnant who could regroup and rebuild–which indeed the Jews did.
But the plan of wicked Haman left no room for any amelioration. Rather, the decree sent out to all the provinces of the King, was intended to “destroy, kill and annihilate allof the Jews from young to old, children and women in one day. (Megillat Esther 3:13)” It took the Nazis years to exterminate the multitudes of Jews they murdered, but the aim of Haman was to complete his genocidal aspirations in one single day.
However, the unbeatable combination of inspired human initiative on the part of Mordechai and Esther, and Divine Providence, overwhelmed the intentions of Haman and his cohorts. As it happened it wasn’t only that the Jews were saved. The entire situation was transformed (VeNahafoch Hu 9:1) into its opposite, and the ostensible victims were empowered to go on the offensive visiting violence on all those who rose against them. This “reversal of outcomes” is clearly enunciated in the instructions Mordechai issued to commemorate “the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and the month which had been turned aboutfor them from one of sorrow to gladness and from mourning to festival”. (Megillat Esther 9:22)
In considering the observance of Purim, it is interesting to note, that unlike the other Jewish holidays, this one is not celebrated by all Jews on the same day. The rule is that Jews who live in cities that did not have a wall that dates back to the days of Joshua celebrate it on the fourteenth day of Adar, while those who spend Purim in a city which was enclosed since that time, observe the Chag (festival) on the fifteenth of that month. Thus, people like myself who dwell in Yerushalayim observe Purim a day later than all who live in “open cities” and this year have a complicated holiday (details here).
What is the reason for this phenomenon?
Esther’s Extra Day: The Battle Beyond Survival
The Megilla tell us that on the thirteenth of Adar—which originally had been designated for the murder of the Jews—the targeted victims now arose and destroyed their anti-Semitic enemies. The Jews achieved a great victory killing seventy-five thousand in the provinces and another five hundred in the capital city of Shushan. King Acashveirosh duly reported these developments to Esther and then inquired if there was anything else that she might desire. Esther surprisingly replied: “If it pleases the King, let tomorrow also be given to the Jews who are in Shushan to act as they did today, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows. (Megillat Esther 9:13)”
The question arises, why did Esther deem it so important to keep the fight going in Shushan? At that point most people would have been happy to call it a day, as the primary goal of saving the Jews from destruction had already been accomplished. The tally at that point was seventy-five thousand killed in the open cities and five hundred in Shushan. It would seem that that was enough killing, so why did Esther not cease hostilities (or in the unforgettable words of former President Joe Biden “take the win”?)
It appears to me that Esther’s desire to fight another day was not for the sake of saving the Jews for that goal had already been achieved. There was another purpose to the fighting and that was to “destroy the seed of Amalek. (Rambam, Hilchot Melachim 5:5)”
Amalek’s Legacy: From Haman to Modernity
There are those who maintain that Haman the “Aggagi” was a descendant of the King of the ancient Amalkite nation, whom King Saul fought against and who was killed by the Prophet Samuel (Shemuel I 15:33). Whether or not that is factually true doesn’t matter. The great Sages point out that Amalek is not only a racial entity but a philosophical one as well.
According to Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, speaking in the name of his illustrious grandfather Rav Chaim HaLevi, any nation that embraces the ideology of extreme Jew hatred and seeks to destroy the Jewish People because he wants to uproot Jews and Judaism from the world, attains the status of Amalek. In our times, Hitler and Nazi Germany certainly acquired that title and should have been subject to the treatment that the Torah prescribes for the Amalikites.
Esther recognized that Haman and his followers wanted to destroy the Jews because they abhorred the Torah ideology—especially the part which mandates that under no circumstances may a Jew affirm idolatry—because of which, Mordechai would not bow down to a human who had pretensions of being “divine”. The unbounded Hitlerian cruelty of Haman was clearly visible in his program to destroy every last Jew—man, woman and child. Can any differences be detected between Haman and the Nazis?
Therefore, Esther realized that the battle was not just to save the lives of the Jews, but an additional major component was the imperative to “eradicate the memory of Amalek. (Devarim 25:19)” That is why even though Shushan was subdued there lingered the task of eliminating the remaining Hamanites and stringing up the ten dead sons of the wicked one on gallows. This was intended to degrade them and send a clear message to everyone about the fate of those who lift their hands against G-d’s Chosen People. Unlike her ancestor Saul who left Aggag standing (there is an Aggadic statement that in the interim before Samuel did him in, Aggag managed to impregnate a woman from whom Haman descended) she recognized that every last evil one must be eliminated.
The Torah teaches us that there is a war of Hashem against Amalek for the “throne of G-d and the Name of G-d is not whole as long as Amalek lives. (Rashi, Shemot 17:16)” This is because when vicious people seek to eliminate Hashem from the world and impose their ideology of “might makes right” people say “where is G-d”?
But when the haughty ones are defeated by the righteous, the name of Hashem is magnified and glorified in the world. And that is why the fifteenth of Adar is celebrated as distinct from the fourteenth, for it includes the rejoicing over the destruction of Amalek in addition to the rescue of the Jews from their archenemy.
Finishing the Job: Purim’s Lesson for Today
The lessons of the Megilla are very relevant to our current situation. We are at war with cruel enemies who seek our destruction. Call them Hamas or Hezbollah or Islamic Jihad or Boka Haram or whatever, the name doesn’t matter since they all share the character of Amalek. And they all need to be destroyed; and not just defeated in a general way so they can survive and regroup to fight another day.
Let us be inspired by the wisdom, courage and commitment of Mordechai and Esther who did not rest after victory was assured but requested from King Achashveirosh permission to fight another day in order to finish the job and achieve a total destruction of the Amalek of their time.
May Israel be strong, mentally and physically, and with Hashem’s help, finish the job that is before her, in order to achieve peace and security and magnify the Name of Hashem in the world.
Chag Purim Sameach.