{"id":55569,"date":"2024-03-26T19:17:48","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T19:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?p=55569"},"modified":"2026-01-22T20:56:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T20:56:32","slug":"clothing-in-megillat-esther-and-costumes-on-purim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/clothing-in-megillat-esther-and-costumes-on-purim\/","title":{"rendered":"Clothing in Megillat Esther and Costumes on Purim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/purim_mitzvot\/\">Purim<\/a> <\/em>shiur<em> by Mrs. Leah Feinberg, delivered 9 Adar II 5784 \/ March 19, 2024.<br \/>\nPost Updated January 20, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"1\">KEY TAKEAWAYS:<\/h3>\n<h2 data-path-to-node=\"2\">The Symbolic Language of Clothing<\/h2>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"3\">The text establishes that clothing (<i data-path-to-node=\"3\" data-index-in-node=\"36\">beged<\/i>) is linguistically related to betrayal (<i data-path-to-node=\"3\" data-index-in-node=\"82\">bagad<\/i>). This suggests that clothing often serves as a &#8220;mask&#8221; or a way to present a version of ourselves to the world that may not reflect our internal reality.<\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"4\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"4,0,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"4,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Achashveirosh\u2019s Arrogance:<\/b> By wearing the <i data-path-to-node=\"4,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"42\">bigdei kehuna<\/i> (priestly garments), he attempted to use sacred items to amplify his own ego and material glory.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"4,1,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"4,1,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Mordechai\u2019s Authenticity:<\/b> Mordechai refused to wear &#8220;proper&#8221; clothes to play politics. His sackcloth was an honest reflection of his internal grief and the spiritual state of the Jewish people.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 data-path-to-node=\"5\">Esther\u2019s &#8220;Royalty&#8221; as a Spiritual State<\/h2>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6\">When the Megillah says Esther &#8220;wore royalty,&#8221; it omits the word &#8220;clothing.&#8221; The commentaries suggest she wasn&#8217;t just putting on a dress, but rather:<\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"7\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7,0,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"7,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Divine Inspiration:<\/b> She was &#8220;clothed&#8221; in <i data-path-to-node=\"7,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"41\">ruach haKodesh<\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7,1,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"7,1,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Purpose:<\/b> She finally embraced her role as the savior of her people.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7,2,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"7,2,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Ancestral Rectification:<\/b> She took on the &#8220;kingship&#8221; of her ancestor, King Shaul, to finish his mission of defeating Amalek.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 data-path-to-node=\"8\">The Conflict: Haman vs. Mordechai<\/h2>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9\">The lecture highlights a fundamental philosophical difference between the villain and the hero regarding identity.<\/p>\n<h2 data-path-to-node=\"11\">Why We Wear Costumes<\/h2>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/purim_mitzvot\/\">The custom of dressing up on Purim<\/a> (dating back to at least the 15th century) is tied to the concept of <em>hester panim<\/em> (the hiding of God&#8217;s face):<\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"13\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"13,0,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"13,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Hidden Miracles:<\/b> Just as God acted &#8220;behind the scenes&#8221; through politics rather than open miracles, we hide our faces to acknowledge that things aren&#8217;t always what they seem.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"13,1,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"13,1,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Internal Loyalty:<\/b> Costumes remind us that even when the Jewish people appeared to be assimilated (external disguise), their internal essence remained loyal to God.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"13,2,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"13,2,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Psychological Freedom:<\/b> Disguises allow us to step outside our social constraints and experience a &#8220;purer&#8221; form of joy.<b data-path-to-node=\"17\" data-index-in-node=\"0\"><\/b><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Purim shiur by Mrs. Leah Feinberg, delivered 9 Adar II 5784 \/ March 19, 2024. Post Updated January 20, 2026 KEY TAKEAWAYS: The Symbolic Language of Clothing The text establishes that clothing (beged) is linguistically related to betrayal (bagad). This suggests that clothing often serves as a &#8220;mask&#8221; or a way to present a version [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133998,"featured_media":55572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[348],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-purim","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Clothing in Megillat Esther and Costumes on Purim - Jewish Holidays<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why do we wear costumes on Purim? 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