Purim - Very Concealed

The theme of Purim is the attack of Amalek on the Jewish people. The unique aspect of Amalek is that they have a murderous attitude the Jews that is in the blood. Often the attitude is latent but is brought out by a specific incident. In the story of Esther, Haman resolves to kill all of the Jews when Mordechai refuses to bow to him.

The style of the Tanakh is that when an enemy attacks Israel, is to give a reason. Usually it is because Israel has turned away from Hashem and His Torah. In the book of Esther no reason is explicitly given for the crisis with Haman. Many commentaries say that the reason was assimilation, but can only bring hints from the text.

It is also noted that the book of Esther is unusual in that the name of God is not mentioned at all. The idea is that there is a great concealment of the presence of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. The verse, “I will surely hide my face on that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods”, (Deuteronomy 31:18), is brought by the commentaries as containing a hint of the story of Esther. This is because the phrase, “I will surely hide”, is written “הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר” which is a variant of the name Esther אֶסְתֵּר. The repetition of the word also hints at the great concealment of God in the story of Esther.

It is the style of religious literature at times to give material that is supposed to be pondered, and that seems to be the case here. It is possible to say that Amalek comes as a reaction to the evil that is hidden in the Jews, particularly in terms of attitude toward the faith. With Israel it was no fear of heaven. This means that they felt they could violate the Torah without adverse consequences. With King Saul it was even worse, in addition he at times viewed the word of God with disgust. The hint is that when the Jews hate religion and hold it in contempt the reaction in the world is dyed in the wool anti Semites become powerful.

The suggestion in the book of Esther is that as long as these attitudes are present it will be impossible to prevail over Amalek by words or by force. The key to victory is through soul searching and change. After that it is possible to turn to Jewish religious heritage, Torah leaders , and to the God of Israel in prayer. With that a day of doom will be changed into a day of joy, gifts, and celebration.

לע"נ  האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח

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