Speaking loudly by silence, is it possible? We are told in Mishle (Proverbs) that iniquities will capture the wicked and that the fear of the Hashem prolongs life. (Proverbs 5:22,27).
In the history of Gods People we find that Esther first risked her life by appearing uninvited before king Aḥašvērōš, asking not only for her deliverance, but for the deliverance of her people, the Jews. Nevertheless, when the king acts, it is only in Esther’s behalf. This necessitates yet another life-threatening appearance before him, at which time Esther appeals to him to reverse the decree of Haman by which all the Jews in Persia could have been exterminated.
You could say Esther appeals to the king solely on the basis of his affection for her and on what the destruction of the Jews would do to her, and that she did not mention the curse the Elohim could bring over him and his people when he would bring damage to Abram’s offspring. Esther is afraid Haman’s wicked plan will bring her lots of pain and suffering for what is done to her brothers and sisters in the faith.
In the book of Esther we do not find a mention of the Most High His Name, but throughout the work we can see how God has His hands in all what happened. It is one fundamental lesson of the Purim story for us that we should remember. While we humans like to feel that we are running the world and controlling our destinies, at the end of the day, the Hashem Jehovah God is behind it all. As the commentative and interpretative writings of Talmud indicates (Megillah 12a), the Jews felt they were helping their political relationship with the government by attending King Aḥašvērōš‘ grand feast. In reality, their very attendance at the feast was the spiritual trigger for Haman’s evil decree to annihilate the Jewish people. Mardəkī or Mordecai and his cousin Estêr, the kings Jewish wife, interceded on behalf of the Jewish community, rescinded the royal edict authorising a pogrom against the Jews, and instituted the Purim Festival.
Haman and his family in the end were executed, and the Jews killed 75,000 would-be attackers. To memorialise the victory and the deliverance, Mordecai instituted the Feast of Purim to be celebrated every year (Esther 9:26-32).
Even when in various places today this day bringing in remembrance the Ta’aniet Estêr or Fast of Esther may have developed into more of a national holiday than a religious one, for us the religious element should be the most important one.
We not only have to remember this one occasion of deliverance but have to remember the many occasions that God was with His people and protected them. Throughout history we may have seen smaller communities and even individual families who experienced miraculous deliverance from persecution. For this many also have been known to enact their own annual celebration, called a “local Purim” or “personal Purim”.
From today we work up to the remembrance of the very important deliverance from Egypt which every lover of God has to keep as a special day of the year. Each of us has to look deep in his heart to check if he lived the past year according to the will of God. these days should be a period of reflection, clearing ourselves of trespasses we did in the last year.
With commemorating Ta’anit Estêr we too can think about how we at certain moments perhaps had to much to drink or ate too much. We must reconsider these days how perhaps we could get intoxicated by things we love so much that we trespass the Will of God. Inebriation of all sorts can bring us in positions not so healthy for our body or for our soul.
This day we remember that certain people got intoxicated by their wrong thought. Nobody seems to escape such moments. Even king David got carried away by what he saw and what made him to send a friend to war so that he would die and he could have his wife.
Often we do not know very well what is good for us. We should know that God knows our heart but also knows what is best for us. It is He Who controls everything and let us feel which way to go. He calls and guides, but it is up to us to react to His calling in the right way.
The coming days we should reflect by the readings of Torah and should understand the way God saved His People and how He is also willing to be with them today when they are willing to give themselves in His Hands.
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Preceding
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Additional reading
- The son of David and the first day of the feast of unleavened bread
- High Holidays not only for Israel
- 8 Reasons Christian Holidays Should Not Be Observed
- Observance of a day to Remember
- Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
- Day of remembrance coming near
- Actions to be a reflection of openness of heart
- Solution for Willing hearts filled with gifts
- Vayikra after its opening word וַיִּקְרָא, which means and He called
- Deliverance and establishement of a theocracy
- Preparation for Passover
- A new exodus and offering of a Lamb
- Sukkoth, Gog, Magog, Armageddon, a covenant and Jerusalem
- Wednesday 5 April – Sunday 9 April 30 CE Pesach or Passover versus Easter
- Most important day in Christian year
- Most important weekend of the year 2016
- This day shall be unto you for a memorial and you shall keep it a feast to the Most High God
- 14-15 Nisan and Easter
- 14 Nisan a day to remember #1 Inception
- 14 Nisan a day to remember #2 Time of Jesus
- 14 Nisan a day to remember #3 Before the Passover-feast
- 14 Nisan a day to remember #4 A Lamb slain
- 14 Nisan a day to remember #5 The Day to celebrate
- Easter holiday, fun and rejoicing
- A Great Gift commemorated
- Jesus memorial
- Thinking about fear for the Loving God and an Invitation for 14 Nisan
- What to do in the Face of Global Anti-semitism
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- The Rebbe on Parashat Zakhor and Purim (March 23-24, 1940 in the Warsaw Ghetto)
- For Such a Time as This
- Kosher Wine and Show Tunes on tap for Purim
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