Purim, the Festival of Deliverance
The Passover Perpetuates the Memory of a Great Event in History
The Jews (Israelites) are among the most ancient races with a well-recorded history and a number of festivals celebrated since thousands of years. Purim is one of them.
An Ancient Race with Ancient Festivals
Any people with a long cultural and national history will have its calendar dotted with festivals, many of which are celebrated in remembrance of great events of the past. The Jewish culture is among the most ancient of the world that have a continuous history with national and religious dimensions.
Purim is among the most important of Jewish festivals and is celebrated in memory of the deliverance of the Jewish people from a deceptive plot that aimed at destroying the whole race.
Purim, the Festival of Lots (14th of the Hebrew month of Adar, February or early March)
This festival of Jews commemorates their deliverance, by the unusual intervention of the Jewish Queen Esther in the affairs of the Empire, from the plot of Haman, the advisor and prime minister of the Persian King Ahasuerus (ruled 486–465 BC, also known as Xerxes), to kill all the Jews in the Persian Empire.
The festival is also called 'Festival of Lots' after the act of Haman who drew lots to determine the date for the extermination of Persian Jewry. The Hebrew word 'Purim' means 'lots' (singular 'pur', 'lot').
History of the Festival
A certain Jew called Mordecai, who would not bow before him in obeisance, enraged Haman. Mordecai was a man of modest stature living in Susa (or Shushan), the capital. Intoxicated with power, arrogant with authority, and blinded by wrongful anger, Haman deceitfully obtained the King’s approval for a decree to kill and annihilate all the Jews in the Empire. What a rage!
The Achaemenid Persian Empire (559–330 BC) encompassed a large part of the civilized world at the time, and Jews were living in every part of the Empire, from Ethiopia to India (the Indus region). Mass extermination of Jews in the Empire would virtually wipe out the race in its entirety; and that was what Haman’s plot aimed at.
When the news broke out, Jews across the Empire began mourning and fasting. They had no hope. The poor man who had enraged Haman happened to be an uncle of Queen Esther. He decided to take the help of the Queen.
The Great Deliverance
The Queen revealed Haman’s inhuman plot to the King and the decree was immediately withdrawn, and Haman was hanged on the gallows he had erected for Mordecai. The King’s favor turned towards Mordecai and he appointed him prime minister in the place of Haman.
There was great relief all over the land and the Jews celebrated the event with great fervor. Several thousand enemies were killed throughout the Empire and the deliverance was consolidated. The historical event got ingrained in Jewish memory so deeply that it came to be celebrated as an important national festival ever since. Purim has served to awaken the spirit of nationhood and freedom among the Israelites who, in whichever part of the world they lived in, have yearned to return to Israel throughout the past.
