Shabbat Parshat Pekudei - 5763
Adar Sheni-Purim

This past week, we celebrated Rosh Chodesh Adar Sheni, the month of Purim. In the Mishneh Torah of the Rambam, Hilchot Megilah (2:18), we find the following highly unusual halachah: “All the works of the Prophets and all of Holy Scripture will in the time of the Mashiach be cancelled, with the exception of Megilat Esther. For indeed that document will continue to exist, in the same manner as the Five Books of Moses and the Laws of the Oral Torah, that will never be cancelled. And even though all memory of suffering will be cancelled, as it is said, ‘For the early suffering will be forgotten and hidden from my sight,’ the days of Purim will never be cancelled, as it is said (Esther 9:28), ‘And these days of Purim will not be removed from the practice of the Jews, and their remembrance will not disappear from their descendants.’ ” The Raavad takes issue with the Rambam on this point, and says “Not one of all the Holy Books will be cancelled, for there is none that does not have important lessons to teach. But this is what the Talmud means, ‘Even if the other Books will no longer be read in public, Megilat Esther will continue to be read in public.’ ”

An article appeared in the OU’s Jewish Action Reader, Volume 1, “A Purim in Every Generation,” by Rabbi Shelomo Jacobovits, that discusses the issue of Purim Katan, The Minor Purim, at various times and places in history. The following are several excerpts from the article:

“The Purim of Cairo (1524)... closely parallels the original Purim experience. The Governor of Egypt, Ahmed Pasha, rose to be the powerful ruler of that land within the empire of Suleiman the Magnificent. He was jealous of the wealth and social status of the leading Jews and announced that unless an exorbitant sum of money was conveyed to him by the 28th of Adar, all Jews in Cairo would be massacred. Clearly his intent was the extermination of the Jews, as the sum specified was beyond anything attainable. But Ahmed was also plotting against the Emperor Suleiman and, on the very day he had set as the Jews’ deadline, he was assassinated by soldiers loyal to Suleiman. The 28th of Adar was joyously proclaimed the Purim of Cairo!”

“The villain of the Frankfurt Purim story (1614), Vincent Fettmilch, actually referred to himself as the “new Haman of the Jews.” He was a fiery rabble-rouser who led mob attacks on the Jewish quarter. After two years of anti-Jewish agitation, he ultimately aroused the ire of the Emperor Matthias, who ordered him arrested and hanged. The Jewish community quickly established the 19th day of Adar as a fast day and the following day as the Purim of Frankfurt. A special scroll was prepared, known as Megilat Vinz (for Vincent), which was read annually on that day, amid great celebration.”

“While the Damascus blood libel was at its height in 1840, the Governor of Rhodes accused local Jewry of the same alleged crime and threatened to annihilate the entire community. It was on the 14th of Adar, as the Jews of Rhodes mournfully prepared for what they expected would be their last Purim, that the Sultan deposed the governor and declared the accusation against the Jews to be false. In ecstasy, the Jews of Rhodes added special ceremonies and piyyutim to the festivities of... Purim, effectively celebrating Purim twice on the same day!”

“In some cases, the villain was an informer who tried to bring ruin on the community or on an individual through malicious reports to the government. Such was the case in Saragossa, Spain, in 1420. The informer was an apostate Jew. When his plot was foiled, a Purim Katan was proclaimed on the 17th of Shevat and a megilah was written for the annual celebration. This megilah is remarkable for its exceptionally close similarity, in style and terminology, to Megilat Esther. It also has the special characteristic of appending to the informer’s name the curse yimach sh’mo (“May his name be eradicated”) every time it appears in the text. ..”

“Why was Purim chosen, and not Pesach or Chanukah, each of which likewise celebrates Jewish redemption from the designs of our enemies?...Purim is the one and only festival on which redemption from enemies is marked by unmitigated celebration. When the enemy is Amalek, we do not apply the restraint of binfol oyivcha al tismach: ‘Do not revel in the fall of your enemy.’ On Pesach, restraint is very much in evidence; the flag of our joy is flown at half-mast in the form of half-Hallel... On Chanukah, when so many of our people fell in battle, and so many other Jews sided with the enemy, there is no mitzvah of mishteh v’simchah, feasting and revelry. For unrestrained joy in deliverance from our enemies, Purim stands alone.”

“Furthermore, the very nature of Purim, the struggle against Amalek, is such that it returns at various times and various places. The Torah itself proclaims the Amalek confrontation to be midor dor – from generation to generation... Accordingly, in every age of persecution we naturally associate the reappearing arch-anti-Semite with Amalek, our enemy of midor dor. The failure of his designs in any generation becomes Purim, and thus calls for ongoing celebrations of Purim.”

In our time, amazingly at just about the exact time of Purim, we are facing a new tyrant, Saddam Hussein (yemach sh’mo, may his name be erased). The President of Iraq threatens the Jewish People first and foremost, for he fancies himself a recreation of Nevuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, and destroyer of the First Jewish Temple, as well as the entire non-Muslim world, with weapons of mass destruction. Let us pray that, despite the obstacles put in its path, the United States, under the leadership of President Bush, will triumph over this evil that menaces the world. And that HaShem will come once again from behind the scenes to the aid of His People, as He did “in those days, at this time.” And, in the ever-lasting merit of Esther and Mordechai, bring the Mashiach to build the Bais HaMikdash.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel

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