Page 7 - HaMizrachi #7BackgroundwithJIF-Purim

Rabbi Reuven Taragin Rabbanit Shani Taragin
A MIZRACHI MESSAGE

IN DISGUISE

O ur Sages teach that Esther mock the Persian Jews for not answering festivities instead of helping to build the
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the Divine call of Shivat Tzion (Return to
leaders
implored
Mikdash in Yerushalayim.
the
in
Yerushalayim
canonize
to
Megillat Esther despite its apparent anti- Zion). Numerous midrashim hint at this tension
Torah messages – including the absence Here are some of the satirical devices between the Jews in Israel and those
of G-d’s name, a heroine who seemingly in the first eight verses alone. Note the in the Diaspora and the two royal
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intermarries, and the omission of Eretz stark parallels and literary connections edifices in the respective lands. In the
Yisrael! They acceded and also instituted between Achashverosh’s palace and the description of the palace in Shushan
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Purim as a Jewish holiday, for they Mishkan/Mikdash: the sophisticated reader should hear
recognized that there was a message, Following a six-month series of the sounds of the Mikdash and see its
albeit somewhat disguised, that must be “Pentagon parties,” a seven-day feast is vessels. The Mikdash in Yerushalayim
conveyed to future generations. 2 held in the king’s courtyard – ת ַ א ֹול ְ מ ִ בּו HaBira houses the true King. The
impending destruction of the Jews in
As we begin reading, we notice that the ה ֶּ ל ֵ א ָ ה םי ִ מ ָּי ַ ה. This reminds us of the Shushan may be a Divine punishment
authors (Mordechai and Esther) place seven days of םי ִ אּולי ִ מ that should for their abandonment of values – for
the story in the historical context of have been celebrated in Yerushalayim preferring Shushan over Yerushalayim,
Persia rather than the Jewish context, i.e. (reminiscent of the seven-day inaugural for subjugating themselves to
highlighting the exile of the Babylonian- ceremony of the Mishkan, or when Achashverosh rather than returning to
Persian Jews and their detachment king Shlomo inaugurated the Beit the Land to serve G-d, and for replacing
from their brethren in Israel. They also HaMikdash)! the Temple with the king’s palace!
introduce us to events in the city of The colors, materials and garments Hence, the one sefer in Tanach that does
Shushan HaBira – the capital city. This displayed at the feasts evoke the not mention Eretz Yisrael is perhaps the
implies much more than the palace's textiles described in the construction most Zionistic of all, subtly beseeching
mere geographical location, for the of the Mishkan and Mikdash. The the Jews in the Diaspora not to lose
only other city referred to as HaBira in juxtaposition of the words – ת ֶ א ֹותֹא ְ ר ַ ה ְּ ב sight of their brothers and sisters in
Tanach is Yerushalayim (with the Beit ֹות ָּ לּוד ְּג ת ֶ ר ֶ א ְ פ ִּ ת ר ָ קְי ת ֶ א ְ ו ֹותּוכ ְ ל ַ מ ד ֹוב ְּ כ ר ֶ ׁשֹע Israel, their capital city of Yerushalayim,
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Mikdash at its center!) This is the first only appears one other time in Tanach and their King, Who is waiting for their
of numerous allusions to Jerusalem – in the description of the priestly return home.
and the Temple in Megillat Esther; a garments. Why are the Jews looking
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means of (not-so) subtly criticizing the at the palace in Shushan as if it is the
Jews for remaining in Persia despite Temple, and why are they marveling at 1 Megillah 7a.
Cyrus allowing them to return to their the garments of the Persian king instead 2 And thereby will never be annulled even after the
homeland and rebuild their Temple. of those of the High Priest? Final Redemption. See Yerushalmi Megillah 1:5.
3 Chronicles 1, 29:1 and 29:19.
Only 42,360 Jews returned to Many architectural and linguistic 4 See Ezra 2:64.
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Yerushalayim to do so, with the parallels (e.g. inner court/outer court) 5 Esther 4:14.
remaining masses comfortably settled designed to criticize the Jews for 6 For a longer version, see Rabbi Menachem
in the Diaspora. Mordechai and Esther preferring the palace and neglecting Leibtag’s “Megillat Esther: Its ‘Hidden’ Message”:
composed the Megillah and Anshei G-d’s sanctuary. www.tanach.org/purim.htm
Knesset HaGedolah edited and canonized 7 Exodus 28:2.
the work (Bava Batra 15a), deliberately The unusual verb ד-ס-י, referring 8 Haggai 2:8, Zechariah 8:9.
lacing the text with poignant allusions to to the establishment of a mandated 9 See Megillah 12a-b, 15b.
a makom acher – a different community drinking culture, reminds us of the
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of Jews. They employ satire to censure verb used in the establishment of the Rabbanit Shani Taragin is Educational
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the Jews of chutz laAretz for their loss of Beit HaMikdash. Perhaps the authors Director of World Mizrachi and
direction, identity and values. Through are condemning Shushan’s Jews for Religious Zionists of America-Mizrachi.
humor, irony, and exaggeration, they indulging in a foreign culture of shani@mizrachi.org

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