Q&A: Purim — What and Why?
Purim — What and Why?
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi,
From the in-depth research I did on the period in question of the Purim miracle, it emerges that Mordechai and Esther, like the rest of the Jews of Shushan, were among those lazy Jews lacking faith who clung to the exile and did not go up to the Land of Israel with Cyrus’s declaration that fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy… Those Jews who loved the exile, then as today, always irritated the local gentiles (sometimes justifiably) and aroused their anger…. The difference between the Holocaust and the Purim period is that during the Holocaust there was no Jewish woman who would persuade the uncircumcised gentile…. So why celebrate it anyway?
Answer
For the sake of discussion, I’ll ignore the in-depth research you conducted. I didn’t understand the question.
Discussion on Answer
Well, actually I probably just attributed things to him that never crossed his mind, oops.
Avi wrote a follow-up / clarification to the question:
For some reason I’m unable to comment after the answer,
so I’ll clarify my previous question.
What value is there in noting a “miracle” that magnifies and strengthens the hold of Jews in the exile against the will of their Creator, and even their assimilation????
If Esther is queen of Persia and Mordechai is viceroy of Persia, then maybe it’s wonderful to remain in the exile and marry Kamala Harris and have anti-Semitic gentiles from her, just as Esther married the Persian king and had from him a gentile idol-worshiper… In what way are Esther and Mordechai more righteous than any assimilated anti-Zionist living abroad?
And this is my reply:
This is a miracle of saving Jews. Even if we assume you are right, and the Jews who were saved there were people who didn’t want to go up to the Land of Israel, is there no justification for celebrating their rescue? Would you have preferred that they all be killed?
All this is based on your assumption that they were all refusing to immigrate and therefore wicked (?). But I don’t accept that assumption itself. Esther married Ahasuerus against her will and acted according to Mordechai’s instructions. I don’t see any indication for your sweeping assertions about them.
It’s also worth adding that at the time the Persian government ruled over the Land of Israel as well, and therefore even someone who was in the Land of Israel was in danger of destruction.
Maybe he’s drawing an analogy: the Jews of Shushan are the Haredim in the State of Israel today, and the gentiles of Shushan are the secular Jews in the State of Israel today, and since that’s exactly completely the same thing (truth is there are a few differences, like for example there Mordechai eventually went out in blue and white, and today they don’t even know what that white is, but no point getting hung up on trivialities), so if you have criticism of the behavior of the Haredim in the State of Israel today, then how dare you identify with the Jews of ancient Shushan and celebrate their joy? That’s disgusting hypocrisy.