Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
As we approach the holiday of Purim, we are tempted to ask, as Rabbi Friedlander does, how does the name Purim reflect the essence of the holiday, and why is the name in the plural? Further, why does the Megillah define pur and tell us it is the goral, when both words mean the same thing, a lottery? Or are they really exactly the same?
We begin our discussion with Rabbi Bernstein’s explanations. First, citing the Vilna Gaon, he explains that Haman’s lottery was not randomly picking a number out of a hat, but a precise astrological system of pinpointing the most auspicious date for any endeavor. While Bnei Yisroel is not subject to the energies of the stars, to astrological influences, as we are under Hashem’s direct supervision, much of that supervision had been lost when the Beit Hamikdosh was destroyed; the Beit Hamikdosh had been the shelter through which Hashem protected us, much as a hut protects those within it from the sun, a prime astrological sign. Indeed, under natural circumstances, the thirteenth of Adar was the most propitious day to annihilate the Jews.
Haman’s error was fundamental. He did not reason that He Who had created the forces of nature and of the stars could just as easily transform them. So the day that was indeed originally a day meant for Jewish tragedy was transformed into a day that would forever be a day of celebration for the Jews; it now had its new natural, astrological character. Hence, the plural Purim signifies two lotteries, the original that Haman had counted on, and the second that transformed the lot of that day into holiday.
We are told that the holy Yom Kippur is a day ki Purim, a day like Purim. This commonality is most evident, suggests Rabbi Biederman, during the Mussaf Kedushah [in the Sephardi liturgy]. When we recite that first word, kesser/crown, we are aware that all the astrological signs Hashem created are under His sovereignty. As such, we are protected from any decrees against us as perhaps “written in the stars.” Purim similarly protects us, and Hashem reversed the astrological powers for our benefit. When we realize the power of this day, we may beseech Hashem for anything, from personal requests to national requests, and certainly for our final redemption with the coming of Moshiach. The most powerful time for our requests, suggests Rabbi Pincus zt’l, is during Megillah reading, with additional opportunities throughout tefillah and in Birkat Hamazon.
Do we attribute the outcome of a “lottery,” and of all that happens, to pure chance, or do we see in the outcome the hand of God? This is the eternal battle Amalek wages against Hashem. The Sifsei Chaim reminds us that a goral was in fact used several times in Tanach, whether for our Yom Kippur service to determine the sacrificial goat versus the scapegoat, or in the distribution of the land when we entered Eretz Yisroel with Joshua. While Haman was casting lots to determine astrological, or “lucky chance” dates for destroying the Jews, we see it as a goral, as all in the control of Hashem; ‘Hu Hagoral’ is a reference to Hashem, who is the Ultimate one in charge. That is the essence of the Megillah.
This theme appears multiple times in the Megillah in the words of Mordechai Hatzadik and of Haman. Mordechai Hatzadik, in sending Esther Hamalka the message about the terrible edict, told her everything that had karahu, that had happened to him. With this word, Mordechai Hatzadik alluded to Haman, a descendant of Amalek, the nation that karcha, happened upon the Jews in the desert. Later, when Haman builds a gallows for Mordechai Hatzadik and rushes to get the King’s permission, the tables are turned on him. Instead of killing Mordechai Hatzadik, Haman is forced to bestow tremendous honor on Mordechai Hatzadik. In relating all this to his wife, he attributes it all to coincidence, to terrible circumstances, it all korohu, happened to him.
Mordechai Hatzadik, although he may not yet know how things will play out, recognizes that Hashem is writing the script. Haman, on the other hand, sees everything as haphazard, disorganized coincidence. The challenge of Purim is the challenge we all face throughout our lives.
Understanding that everything that happens in our lives is coordinated by Hashem is the bedrock of having emunah/faith in Hashem, and is one of the six constant mitzvoth, writes Rabbi Berkowitz. This is the underlying theme of Megillat Esther Hamalka and perhaps the main reason it is included in the canon of our Holy Writings. When we start inspecting our lives, our challenges, our decisions, the people we met “by coincidence” along the way, we may begin to notice a pattern that reinforces our faith that there is nothing random in this world. But then again, we may not yet notice, for we are still weaving the pattern of our lives, and the full picture is not yet clear. That is when we must believe that, just like the events in the Megillah, nothing in our lives is really haphazard.
Why is it that the Iron Dome in Israel successfully intercepts almost all the incoming missiles, a much larger percentage than it does in other countries where it is deployed? As a scientist in Israel told a young kollel man, it is the power of Torah and Hashem’s intervention that guided the drones more than the technology.
Rabbi Avi Feiner makes a remarkable observation about the very name of this joyous holiday. Purim is joyous because it gives us a sense of the joy of the Messianic era. How? In the sequence of Hebrew letters that spell out Purim- פורים. The letter vov in Hebrew is often grammatically a connecting letter, acting as either “and” or as a dash. Rabbi Feiner suggests that this letter vov in Purim is filling in the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Let us put in the entire sequence: …פ צ ק ר . The intervening letters, represented by the dash, spell קץ, the term that usually refers to the Messianic era, the end of time. This allusion to the final redemption fills us with joy, for “Then our mouth will fill with laughter and our lips with song.”
Rabbi Strickoff suggests that the holiday is called Purim because it was this lottery that produced the positive result of uniting the Jewish people. It is along these lines that the Tallelei Chaim turns our attention to our first reference to Amalek as our enemy. That encounter occurred in Rephidim/רפידים. The Gemarra points out that the reason Bnei Yisroel were vulnerable was because their hands רפו/became weak in the [study, work] of Torah. Therefore the Megillah sometimes writes Purim with the extra vov as פורים and sometimes without it, as פרים to remind us of our initial encounter in רפידים when our faith wavered and we asked, “Is Hashem within us or not?” The enemy is Hashem’s tool. It is when we show weakness in our faith that Hashem sends us an agent and a challenge to bring us back to Him.
The fact that Purim is in the month of Adar/אדר is further significant in that it alludes to the Aleph, the King of the world, being a resident, a דר in our world. But let us not confuse the ד with the ר. In Hebrew, the name of each letter is significant. both daled and reish mean “poor.” But the difference is that daled can also be read as delet/door. A poor man who leaves the door open for help from Hashem is much different from the poor man who feels he is in control, and not God. Amalek’s mission was to erase Hashem from the world. The power of the daled who has faith and opens the door, coming before the reish is what empowers Hashem’s presence, the Aleph, to descend to the world and confound Amalek. We have to see this idea played over and over throughout our lives, in the plural in Purim.
Just as the salvation of Purim is concealed within the regular intrigue of palace politics, so is salvation hidden in the unwinding the scrolls of history. The story is told of the hidden miracle of Operation Solomon, when Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to safety in Israel. Whether or not the United Stated would become involved and write the appropriate recognition of the Ethiopian regime was up for a vote in President Bush’s cabinet. This was a condition Ethiopian president Mengistu demanded if he was to allow the Jews to emigrate. With the vote even, the final, deciding vote was up to Colin Powell. Why did he vote to support the Ethiopian Jewish airlift? Because as a child, he and his siblings were trapped in a burning building, doomed to death. A passerby ran in and saved the children. When they wanted to reward the passerby, he said he is an Ethiopian Jew who does not get paid for doing mitzvoth. Colin Powell’s decisive vote so many years later was General Powell’s returning the mitzvah. We generally do not see Hashem’s hand in action in the present, only in retrospect.
Who wins a lottery and who doesn’t are decisions that appear random but are really not so. Nevertheless, they are beyond our understanding, above our heads, so to speak. Therefore they are referred as the kesser, the crown of Hashem, writes Rabbi Wolfson zt’l.
Bnei Yisroel and Hakodosh Boruch Hu are intimately connected. As we say in our Yomim Noraim liturgy, “…You are our Portion. We are your heritage, and You are goraleinu/our Lot.” Although we recognize our special relationship with Hashem, writes the Chida, we do not flaunt that relationship; we hide it within the idea of a chance pur/lottery. We know Hashem’s saving us makes no sense and it is just a manifestation of His love for us. But that love must be carried forward, adds Rabbi Pincus. We reflect God’s love by extending it to others, by sharing our food through mishloach manot and by giving gifts — not charity — to the poor.
The Slonimer Rebbe, the Netivot Shalom, gives us a chassidic slant to the joy we experience on Purim. On this day we have the ability to enter Hashem’s chambers that is not formally, normally permissible [as Esther Hamalka entered Ahashverosh’s chamber] and ask Hashem to reverse a decree against us. Even if the decree has already been sealed, as the decree against the Jews, we have the ability to reverse it. First, if we increase the love among our fellow Jews, Hashem will view us with increased love. Further, if we can be joyous and love Hashem even when He sends us pain and challenges, then Hashem will reciprocate with overwhelming love for us even when we “pain” Him with our behavior. It is the energy of the love and connection to Hakodosh Boruch Hu that has the power to overturn what has been decreed, whether it appears natural or random.
Our faith in Hashem must never waver. When life and history appear dark, we must remember that Hashem, although unseen, is in control. Purim teaches us this lesson. We came closer to Hashem through those challenges, and we have come closer to Hashem in the pain of our current challenges. We pray that just as Hashem orchestrated our salvation through hidden channels then, may He already be in the process of our current salvation, and may it be speedily, in the very near future.
Freilichen Purim!
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