(כ) וַיִּכְתֹּ֣ב מָרְדֳּכַ֔י אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֖ים הָאֵ֑לֶּה וַיִּשְׁלַ֨ח סְפָרִ֜ים אֶל־כָּל־הַיְּהוּדִ֗ים אֲשֶׁר֙ בְּכָל־מְדִינוֹת֙ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵר֔וֹשׁ הַקְּרוֹבִ֖ים וְהָרְחוֹקִֽים׃ (כא) לְקַיֵּם֮ עֲלֵיהֶם֒ לִהְי֣וֹת עֹשִׂ֗ים אֵ֠ת י֣וֹם אַרְבָּעָ֤ה עָשָׂר֙ לְחֹ֣דֶשׁ אֲדָ֔ר וְאֵ֛ת יוֹם־חֲמִשָּׁ֥ה עָשָׂ֖ר בּ֑וֹ בְּכָל־שָׁנָ֖ה וְשָׁנָֽה׃ (כב) כַּיָּמִ֗ים אֲשֶׁר־נָ֨חוּ בָהֶ֤ם הַיְּהוּדִים֙ מֵא֣וֹיְבֵיהֶ֔ם וְהַחֹ֗דֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר֩ נֶהְפַּ֨ךְ לָהֶ֤ם מִיָּגוֹן֙ לְשִׂמְחָ֔ה וּמֵאֵ֖בֶל לְי֣וֹם ט֑וֹב לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת אוֹתָ֗ם יְמֵי֙ מִשְׁתֶּ֣ה וְשִׂמְחָ֔ה וּמִשְׁל֤וֹחַ מָנוֹת֙ אִ֣ישׁ לְרֵעֵ֔הוּ וּמַתָּנ֖וֹת לָֽאֶבְיוֹנִֽים׃ (כג) וְקִבֵּל֙ הַיְּהוּדִ֔ים אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־הֵחֵ֖לּוּ לַעֲשׂ֑וֹת וְאֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־כָּתַ֥ב מָרְדֳּכַ֖י אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃ (כד) כִּי֩ הָמָ֨ן בֶּֽן־הַמְּדָ֜תָא הָֽאֲגָגִ֗י צֹרֵר֙ כָּל־הַיְּהוּדִ֔ים חָשַׁ֥ב עַל־הַיְּהוּדִ֖ים לְאַבְּדָ֑ם וְהִפִּ֥יל פּוּר֙ ה֣וּא הַגּוֹרָ֔ל לְהֻמָּ֖ם וּֽלְאַבְּדָֽם׃ (כה) וּבְבֹאָהּ֮ לִפְנֵ֣י הַמֶּלֶךְ֒ אָמַ֣ר עִם־הַסֵּ֔פֶר יָשׁ֞וּב מַחֲשַׁבְתּ֧וֹ הָרָעָ֛ה אֲשֶׁר־חָשַׁ֥ב עַל־הַיְּהוּדִ֖ים עַל־רֹאשׁ֑וֹ וְתָל֥וּ אֹת֛וֹ וְאֶת־בָּנָ֖יו עַל־הָעֵֽץ׃ (כו) עַל־כֵּ֡ן קָֽרְאוּ֩ לַיָּמִ֨ים הָאֵ֤לֶּה פוּרִים֙ עַל־שֵׁ֣ם הַפּ֔וּר עַל־כֵּ֕ן עַל־כָּל־דִּבְרֵ֖י הָאִגֶּ֣רֶת הַזֹּ֑את וּמָֽה־רָא֣וּ עַל־כָּ֔כָה וּמָ֥ה הִגִּ֖יעַ אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃ (כז) קִיְּמ֣וּ וקבל [וְקִבְּל֣וּ] הַיְּהוּדִים֩ ׀ עֲלֵיהֶ֨ם ׀ וְעַל־זַרְעָ֜ם וְעַ֨ל כָּל־הַנִּלְוִ֤ים עֲלֵיהֶם֙ וְלֹ֣א יַעֲב֔וֹר לִהְי֣וֹת עֹשִׂ֗ים אֵ֣ת שְׁנֵ֤י הַיָּמִים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה כִּכְתָבָ֖ם וְכִזְמַנָּ֑ם בְּכָל־שָׁנָ֖ה וְשָׁנָֽה׃ (כח) וְהַיָּמִ֣ים הָ֠אֵלֶּה נִזְכָּרִ֨ים וְנַעֲשִׂ֜ים בְּכָל־דּ֣וֹר וָד֗וֹר מִשְׁפָּחָה֙ וּמִשְׁפָּחָ֔ה מְדִינָ֥ה וּמְדִינָ֖ה וְעִ֣יר וָעִ֑יר וִימֵ֞י הַפּוּרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה לֹ֤א יַֽעַבְרוּ֙ מִתּ֣וֹךְ הַיְּהוּדִ֔ים וְזִכְרָ֖ם לֹא־יָס֥וּף מִזַּרְעָֽם׃ (ס) (כט) וַ֠תִּכְתֹּב אֶסְתֵּ֨ר הַמַּלְכָּ֧ה בַת־אֲבִיחַ֛יִל וּמָרְדֳּכַ֥י הַיְּהוּדִ֖י אֶת־כָּל־תֹּ֑קֶף לְקַיֵּ֗ם אֵ֣ת אִגֶּ֧רֶת הַפּוּרִ֛ים הַזֹּ֖את הַשֵּׁנִֽית׃ (ל) וַיִּשְׁלַ֨ח סְפָרִ֜ים אֶל־כָּל־הַיְּהוּדִ֗ים אֶל־שֶׁ֨בַע וְעֶשְׂרִ֤ים וּמֵאָה֙ מְדִינָ֔ה מַלְכ֖וּת אֲחַשְׁוֵר֑וֹשׁ דִּבְרֵ֥י שָׁל֖וֹם וֶאֱמֶֽת׃
(20) Mordecai recorded these events. And he sent dispatches to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, near and far, (21) charging them to observe the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar, every year— (22) the same days on which the Jews enjoyed relief from their foes and the same month which had been transformed for them from one of grief and mourning to one of festive joy. They were to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking, and as an occasion for sending gifts to one another and presents to the poor. (23) The Jews accordingly assumed as an obligation that which they had begun to practice and which Mordecai prescribed for them. (24) For Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the foe of all the Jews, had plotted to destroy the Jews, and had cast pur—that is, the lot—with intent to crush and exterminate them. (25) But when [Esther] came before the king, he commanded: “With the promulgation of this decree, let the evil plot, which he devised against the Jews, recoil on his own head!” So they impaled him and his sons on the stake. (26) For that reason these days were named Purim, after pur. In view, then, of all the instructions in the said letter and of what they had experienced in that matter and what had befallen them, (27) the Jews undertook and irrevocably obligated themselves and their descendants, and all who might join them, to observe these two days in the manner prescribed and at the proper time each year. (28) Consequently, these days are recalled and observed in every generation: by every family, every province, and every city. And these days of Purim shall never cease among the Jews, and the memory of them shall never perish among their descendants. (29) Then Queen Esther daughter of Abihail wrote a second letter of Purim for the purpose of confirming with full authority the aforementioned one of Mordecai the Jew. (30) Dispatches were sent to all the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the realm of Ahasuerus with an ordinance of “equity and honesty:”
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רבי ירמיה בשם רבי שמואל בר רב יצחק מה עשו מרדכי ואסתר? כתבו אגרת ושלחו לרבותינו שכן אמרו להם מקבלין אתם עליכם שני ימים הלילו בכל שנה. אמרו להן לא דיינו הצרות הבאות עלינו אלא שאתם רוצין להוסיף עלינו עוד צרתו של המן חזרו וכתבו להן אגרת שנייה הדא היא דכתי' לקיים עליהם את איגרת הפורי' הזאת השנית. מה היה כתוב בה? אמרו להן אם מדבר זה אתם מתייראי' הרי היא כתובה ומעלה בארכיים "הלא הם כתובים על ספר דברי הימים למלכי מדי ופרס". |
Yerushalmi Megillah 70d Rabbi Yirmiyah said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel Bar Rav Yitzhak: What did Mordecai and Esther do? They wrote a scroll and sent it to our Rabbis and said to them, “Will you accept upon yourselves these two days as yearly (celebrations)?" They said to them, “Are not our sorrows enough and you want to add upon them the sorrow of Haman.” They (Mordecai and Esther) wrote back another scroll, as it says, “to accept upon themselves this scroll of Purim for a second time.” What was written in the second scroll? They said to them, “Why should you be afraid of this (the sorrow of Haman) isn’t it already written in the archives, (as it says) “for aren’t they written in the annals of the kings of Medea and Persia.” |
Why do the people not want to celebrate Purim?
What is the problem with celebrating this particular holiday, especially in the place in which they are celebrating it?
As a Jew do you ever have mixed feelings remembering the difficult moments in Jewish history?
One thing to remember, is that the rabbis composing these texts were living themselves as a minority people in a conquered land. How might it have felt to them to think about Purim?
How is our situation in America and other modern democracies different?
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רבי שמואל בר נחמן בשם רבי יונתן שמונים וחמשה זקינים ומהם שלשים וכמה נביאים היו מצטערין על הדבר הזה. אמרו כתיב "אלה המצות אשר צוה יי' את משה", אילו המצות שנצטוינו מפי משה, כך אמר לנו משה אין נביא אחר עתיד לחדש לכם דבר. מעתה ומרדכי ואסתר מבקשי' לחדש לנו דבר. לא זזו משם נושאי' ונותנין בדבר עד שהאיר הקב"ה את עיניהם ומצאו אותה כתוב' בתור' ובנביאי' ובכתובי', הדא היא דכתי' "ויאמ' יי' אל משה כתוב זאת זכרון בספר" – "זאת" תורה כמה דתימ' "וזאת התורה אשר שם משה לפני בני ישראל". "זכרון" אילו הנביאים "ויכתב ספר הזכרון לפניו ליראי יי' וגו'". "בספר" אילו הכתובים "ומאמר אסתר קיים את דברי הפורים האלה ונכתב בספר". רב ורבי חנינה ורבי יונתן ובר קפרא ורבי יהושע בן לוי אמרו המגילה הזאת נאמרה למשה מסיני אלא שאין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה. |
Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman in the name of R. Yohanan said: Eighty five elders, amongst them 30 some odd prophets, were distressed over the following matter. They said, "It is written (in the Torah) 'These are the commandments which God commanded Moses' (Leviticus 27:34), i.e. these are the commandments which we were commanded by Moses. Thus Moses said that no prophet is permitted to institute anything new. Nevertheless, Mordecai and Esther wish to institute the new holiday of Purim.
They (the elders) continued debating the subject until God enlightened them and they found it written in the Torah, in the Prophets and in the Writings, as it says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Inscribe this in a document as a reminder”. “This” refers to the Torah as it says, “And this is the Torah that God placed in front of Israel.” “A reminder” refers to the Prophets, as it says, “And a scroll of remembrance has been written at His bequest concerning those who revere the Lord and esteem his Name.” “In a document” refers to the Writings as it says, “And Esther’s ordinance validating these observances of Purim was recorded in a scroll.”
Rav, Rabbi Hanina, Rabbi Yonatan, Bar Kapara and Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said, “This scroll (of Esther) was said to Moses at Sinai but the Torah is not written in chronological order.
The rabbis here are probably ascribing their own concerns to the authors of Esther.
What are the concerned about?
What is the problem with instituting a new holiday?
Why does it bring them comfort to know that Purim is hinted to in the Torah, Prophets and Writings?
Why would rabbis say that Purim was said to Moses at Sinai, an event that happened hundreds of years earlier?
Rav Shmuel bar Yehuda said: Esther sent to the Sages: Establish me for future generations. Esther requested that the observance of Purim and the reading of the Megilla be instituted as an ordinance for all generations. They sent to her: You will thereby arouse the wrath of the nations upon us, as the Megilla recounts the victory of the Jews over the gentiles, and it is best not to publicize that victory. She sent back to them: I am already written in the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia, and so the Megilla will not publicize anything that is not already known worldwide.
It was related that Rav and Rabbi Ḥanina and Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rav Ḥaviva taught: Esther sent to the Sages: Write me for future generations and canonize my book as part of the Bible. They sent to her that it is written: “Have I not written for you three times” (Proverbs 22:20), indicating that Israel’s battle with Amalek is to be mentioned three times in the Bible and not four times? Since it is already mentioned three times (Exodus 17:8–16; Deuteronomy 25:17–19; I Samuel 15), there is no need to add a fourth source. The Sages did not accede to Esther’s request until they found a verse written in the Torah: “Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: That I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens” (Exodus 17:14). The Sages interpreted the verse: “Write this,” that which is written in the Torah here in Exodus, and in Deuteronomy; “a memorial,” that which is written in the Prophets, i.e., in I Samuel, on this matter; “in the book,” that which is written in the Megilla. The Megilla is the third mention of Amalek and not the fourth, as both mentions in the Torah pertaining to Amalek are considered one; therefore, Esther would be the third, not the fourth source.