Q&A: Connecting to the Festival of Purim
Connecting to the Festival of Purim
Question
Good evening, and Happy Purim!
I don’t understand how one can connect to the festival of Purim, which is supposedly meant to instill in us belief in ongoing providence in the events of life that happen to us, when every event can be placed into a completely natural framework. What is left for us of the content of this exalted day? To believe that the First Cause planned a world that contains events that sometimes smile upon some nation? That’s ridiculous, no?
(And one cannot say that there was prophetic revelation there confirming the Creator’s intervention, since apparently Mordechai was not a prophet, nor was Esther!)
Thank you for addressing this.
Answer
Hello.
I’ll answer in your order:
1. Why do you think Purim’s purpose is to instill providence (in the active sense)? The main point of the day is giving thanks for the rescue and the “miracle.” And like any expression of thanks, in my view, the intention is not to thank God for something He did now, by intervening in creation, but rather to take advantage of the opportunity (psychologically, a person who has been saved is more open-hearted in giving thanks) to thank Him for the world He created. It is not to thank Him for planning a world in which favorable things sometimes happen, but simply to thank Him for the creation of the world itself.
2. Who told you there was no prophecy there? According to the Sages, there was at least divine inspiration.
3. And finally, even if the sages of that generation or the Sages intended to establish this day as a commemoration of miracles and providence, when one’s outlook changes, the conceptual content can be changed. The authority of the Sages applies to Jewish law, not to matters of ideas and meaning.
March 3, 2021
Indeed, Purim is the festival that makes clear that the world is arranged in a deterministic way, and everything is dictated by the “pur”—the lot, fate. As my husband of blessed memory determined the date for the destruction of the Jews by casting a lot. But in the end the fate of the man prevailed over the fate of the “man,” as I said to him: “If Mordechai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not overcome him, for you shall surely fall before him,” and nothing will help you against the deterministic law fixed in advance.
Unfortunately, although Haman was generally a good listener and considerate husband—here he was stubborn, and refused to accept the decree of deterministic fate, and what a pity for what was lost…
At least on this day, the third day of the third month (3/3), let us raise up his triangular ears, sweet and tasty.
Best regards,
Zeresh bat Tatnai