Purim
“To have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor. Esther 9:21-22 Holy Bible
The name “Purim” comes from the Persian word pur, meaning “lot,” referring to the lots cast by the villain Haman to determine the date for the massacre. Esther 9:26–28: Confirms the name “Purim” and establishes the custom for all future generations to remember and celebrate these days. Esther 9:20–22: This is the primary mandate for celebration. It instructs that the 14th and 15th of the month of Adar be kept annually as days of feasting and gladness, sending portions of food to one another, and giving gifts to the poor. Exodus 17:8–16: Often read during Purim morning services because it recounts the battle with Amalek, from whom Haman is believed to be descended.
Purim highlights themes of divine providence (often hidden), the strength of Israel identity, and the triumph of good over evil. The holiday is marked by dressing in costumes, festive meals (seudat Purim), and drinking wine, sending gifts of food to friends and giving charity to the poor. Purim is celebrated on the 14th and 15th of Adar. Adar is typically the last month of the Jewish year (late February or March)
The Story Behind Purim:
The Scroll of Esther begins with a 180-day drinking feast given by King Ahasuerus of the Persian Empire for the army and Media and the satraps and princes of the 127 provinces of his kingdom, concluding with a seven-day drinking feast for the inhabitants of Shushan (Susa), rich and poor, and a separate drinking feast for the women organized by Queen Vashti in the pavilion of the royal courtyard.
At this feast, Ahasuerus the persian King becomes thoroughly drunk and, prompted by his courtiers, orders his wife Vashti to ‘display her beauty’ before the nobles and populace, while wearing her royal crown. Vashti’s refusal embarrasses him in front of his guests and prompts him to demote her from her position as queen. Ahasuerus then orders all of the beautiful women throughout the empire to be presented to him, so that he can choose a new queen to replace Vashti. One of these is Esther, who was orphaned at a young age and is being fostered by her first cousin Mordecai, a member of the Sanhedrin. She finds favor in the King’s eyes, and is made his new wife. Esther does not reveal her origins or that she is Jewish, as Mordecai told her not to.
Shortly afterwards, Mordecai discovers a plot by two palace guards Bigthan and Teresh to kill Ahasuerus. They are apprehended and hanged, and Mordecai’s service to the King is recorded in the daily record of the court.
Ahasuerus appoints Haman as his viceroy. Mordecai, who sits at the palace gates, falls into Haman’s disfavor as he refuses to bow down to him. Having found out that Mordecai is Jewish, Haman plans to kill not just Mordecai but the entire Jewish minority in the empire. Obtaining Ahasuerus’ permission and funds to execute this plan, he casts lots (“purim”) to choose the date on which to do this—the 14th of the month of Adar. When Mordecai finds out about the plans, he puts on sackcloth and ashes, a sign of mourning, publicly weeping and lamenting, and many other Jews in Shushan and other parts of Ahasuerus’ empire do likewise, with widespread penitence and fasting. Esther discovers what has transpired; there follows an exchange of messages between her and Mordecai, with Hatach, one of the palace servants, as the intermediary. Mordecai requests that she intercede with the King on behalf of the embattled Jews; she replies that nobody is allowed to approach the King, under penalty of death.
Esther says she will fast and pray for three days and asks Mordecai to request that all Jews of Persia fast and pray for three days together with her. She will then approach the King to seek his help, despite the law against doing so, and declares, ‘If I perish, I perish.’ On the third day, she seeks an audience with Ahasuerus, during which she invites him to a feast in the company of Haman. During the feast, she asks them to attend a further feast the next evening. Meanwhile, Haman is again offended by Mordecai’s refusal to bow to him; egged on by his wife Zeresh and unidentified friends, he builds a gallows for Mordecai, with the intention to hang him there the very next day.
That night, Ahasuerus suffers from insomnia, and when the court’s daily records are read to him to help him fall asleep, he learns of the services rendered by Mordecai in the earlier plot against his life. Ahasuerus asks whether anything was done for Mordecai and is told that he received no recognition for saving the King’s life. Just then, Haman appears, and King Ahasuerus asks him what should be done for the man that the King wishes to honor. Thinking that the King is referring to Haman himself, Haman says that the honoree should be dressed in the King’s royal robes and led around on the King’s royal horse. To Haman’s horror, the king instructs Haman to render such honors to Mordecai.
Later that evening, Ahasuerus and Haman attend Esther’s second banquet, at which she reveals that she is Jewish and that Haman is planning to exterminate her people, which includes her. Ahasuerus becomes enraged and instead orders Haman hanged on the gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai. The previous decree against the Jewish people could not be nullified, so the King allows Mordecai and Esther to write another decree as they wish. They decree that Jewish people may preemptively kill those thought to pose a lethal risk. As a result, on 13 Adar, 500 attackers and 10 of Haman’s sons are killed in Shushan. Throughout the empire 75,000 of the Jewish peoples’ enemies are killed.
The entire story and the formal institution of the holiday are found in the Book of Esther.
– The Book of Queen Esther – Holy Bible
