Page 40 - HaMizrachi #27 Purim USA 2021

PURIM READING

Esther, Chapter Three

— ג קרפ ,רתסא תליגמ — Yael Leibowitz

What’s in a Name?

he holiday of Purim has a some- casting, and how it was understood in will be doled out by G-d at the end of
what surprising etymology. Its the ancient world, reveals the profound time (Yishayahu 34:17).
Tname derives from a minor epi- theological message embedded in the
sode in chapter 3 of the Megillah that, name. G-d does not appear explicitly in
if the holiday were not named after Megillat Esther, and the events it tells of
it, many of us probably wouldn’t even Today, when we talk about casting lots, are devoid of overt miracles. However,
remember: or the rolling of dice, we are essentially the author of the Megillah urges his
speaking about random odds, and readers to look for G-d even when
“In the first month... ‘the lot’ was cast about leaving things up to chance. there are no internal guarantees of His
before Haman concerning every day and intervention. He does so by including
every month, [until it fell on] the twelfth “” Today, when we serendipitous occurrences and perfectly
month, that is, the month of Adar” (3:7). talk about casting ironic reversals throughout the Megillah,

Later in the Megillah, the topic of lots lots, or the rolling the cumulative effect of which makes us
is mentioned again as the source for the of dice, we are hyper-aware of the likelihood of Divine
holiday’s name. intervention.
essentially speaking
“Haman son of Hammedatha the about random odds, The irony of Haman’s impalement
Aggagit, the foe of all the Jews, had during the very month that “was chosen”
plotted to destroy the Jews, had cast and about leaving for his plan, would not have escaped the
a pur – that is, the lot, with the intent things up to chance attention of ancient Jewish readers. At
to crush and exterminate them. But the very least, it would have given them
when [Esther] came before the king, he pause to reflect on whether, perhaps,
commanded, ‘With the promulgation In the ancient world however, it was G-d was working behind the scenes the
of this decree, let the evil plot, which believed that Divine will was manifest entire time. Like those ancient readers,
he devised against the Jews recoil on his in the process, and as such, lot casting we experience the Megillah the way
own head!’ So they impaled him and his was used to select one possibility from one stares at a perfectly drawn optical
sons on the stake. For that reason these a variety of others. This practice was illusion. We look for what we think we
days were named Purim, after the pur.” common throughout the near east, see, or perhaps what we want to see, but
and in the Tanach as well, we see we are never convinced that what we
The holiday of Purim celebrates a G-d communicating His preference are seeing is the only reality. That very
chain of events that led to the salvation through lots. Most famously, lots were experience, intentionally cultivated by
of the Jewish people. How interesting used to decide which male goat would the author, remains the challenge, and
then, that the author of the Megillah be sacrificed and which would go to the joy of Jewish history. As such, the
didn’t choose to name the holiday Azazel on Yom Kippur. Along similar holiday is named for everything Haman’s
after the brave deeds of its heroes, or lines, we know that much of the Land of pur encompasses.
even after one of the more significant, Israel was divided among the tribes by
climactic events of the story, but rather a lottery system. In Yehoshua, lots were
the relatively small act of lot casting used to identify Achan, the man who Yael Leibowitz has taught Continuing
performed by the villain of the story. had violated a serious post-war taboo, Education courses and served as Resident
In the Second Book of Maccabees, and in Samuel I, lots were used to select Scholar in New York. She is currently
teaching as she continues her studies at
for example, the day is referred to as Saul, Israel’s first king. Other Biblical Bar-Ilan University.
“Mordechai’s Day,” which at first blush, examples abound, and Yishayahu
seems to make a lot more sense than HaNavi refers to lot casting when he A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
“Purim.” However, a close look at lot envisions how reward and punishment mizrachi.org/speakers

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