Portion for Reading Esther 8-10Purim is one of the most festive and joyous holidays on the Jewish calendar. The book of Esther commands that it be celebrated on the 14th and 15th days of Adar (February or March) and was to be a time of "feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor" (Esther 9:22). This holiday commemorates the victory of the Jewish people over their enemies that tried to slaughter them as a result of the decree by the Persian Prime Minister, Haman, in the book of Esther. Today the Jewish people still celebrate this festival and remember the past anti-Semitic individuals who tried to exterminate them as well as the present ones.
Hitler and Purim
Adolph Hitler knew about this holiday and its significance in Jewish history. In 1941, Hitler banned the Jewish community in Poland from the observance of Purim. They were forbidden to read the Scroll of Esther and the synagogues were closed on that day (Goodman 1980: 374). On January 30, 1944, Hitler addressed the German people on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the Nazi party coming to power. In this anti-Semitic diatribe, he blamed all the ills of Europe and Germany on "international Jewry" (his words).
He went on to predict that if the Russians defeated Germany then "Jewry could then celebrate the destruction of Europe by a second triumphant Purim festival." (New York Times, Jan. 31, 1944, p. 5) Fortunately, just over a year later, Hitler committed suicide and the Nazi regime came to an end.The story is told of Hitler giving one of his fiery speeches in the large hall in Munich early in his rise to power. In this oration he called for the destruction of the Jewish people. In the front row sat a man, who on occasion, would make faces and laugh at the Fuhrer. After the meeting Hitler inquired as to who this man was and why he made faces and laughed at him. The man explained that he was Jewish and said to Hitler, "You should be aware that you are not the first antisemite who sought to destroy us. You may recall that the great Pharaoh of Egypt sought to enslave the Jews. To commemorate his defeat and our redemption, we eat tasty Mazot and observe the festival of Passover.
Haman was another enemy of ours who brought about his own downfall. The delicious Hamantashen we eat and the jolly festival of Purim recall our deliverance from him. While listening to your venomous diatribe, I wondered what kind of delicacy would the Jews invent and what kind of holiday would be established to celebrate your downfall" (Goodman 1980:384,385).In an ironic twist, Hitler attempted to carry out his diabolical plan to exterminate the Jewish people.
Today, however, the Jewish people do not celebrate the downfall of Hitler, but rather, they commemorate the tragic event of the Holocaust by remembering the six million Jews who were slaughtered in the concentration camps of Europe. This memorial day is called Yom HaShoah and is observed on the 27th of Nisan. Some Jewish people even fast on this day.Hitler also saw evangelical Christians as a threat to his scheme of world conquest and had plans to eliminate them as well. Recently released documents show his plans to "subvert and destroy German Christianity" (New York Times, January 13, 2002, p. 7).
The Celebration of Purim
On Purim, a Jewish person goes to the synagogue for the reading of the Megillah, the scroll of Esther (Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 1a). The first year I studied in Israel, I had a class in Biblical Hebrew. In the spring semester we were translating the book of Esther. One of our class assignments was to visit a synagogue for the reading of the Megillah at Purim. What an experience that was! When the cantor came to the name Mordecai, the protagonist in the story, the people shouted, "Blessed be Mordecai." When the name Haman, the antagonist, was read, everybody stomped their feet on the floor, made noise with their noisemakers called groggers, and shouted, "Cursed be Haman."I did not participate in another Purim custom. The rabbis say that a man should "mellow himself [with wine] on Purim until he cannot tell the difference between 'cursed be Haman' and 'blessed be Mordecai'" (BT Megillah 7b).
In other words, this was the only day they were permitted to get drunk!Children, and even adults, get dressed up in costumes and have a Purim party or parade. Usually the costumes are of the Biblical characters such as Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus or Haman. Today people will dress up or wear masks of modern day anti-Semitic people who would like to exterminate the Jewish people, such as Yasser Arafat, Osama bin Laden, or Saddam Hussein. This holiday is sort of like a Jewish Halloween and New Years all rolled into one, but without the occultic overtones.
God's Purim Gift to Us
On Purim, Jewish people are commanded to give gifts to the poor. The Lord Jesus gave this poor sick man the gift of physical health and presumably eternal life. What great Purim presents to receive!Several months earlier, the Lord Jesus had a conversation with a Samaritan woman by a well near Sychar. In this conversation He describes the "gift of God" as "everlasting life" (John 4:10,14). The Lord Jesus offered the man at Bethesda healing shrine more than the gift of physical health; He also offered him eternal life.Each individual who has ever lived, or will ever live, is a poor sinner before a Holy God. The Bible says that the "wages of sin in death [separation from God for all eternity in Hell], but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). The gift that God gives to poor sinners is not limited to just Purim, but is offered "24-7", twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, every week of the year, from the eternity past to eternity future.
The only thing a person has to do, in fact, the only thing a person can do is to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as the One who died for their sins and rose again from the dead. There is no righteous deeds, good works, or rituals that we can do to please a Holy God, the only thing that does is faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus (Isa. 64:6; Hab. 2:4; Rom. 5:15-18; Eph. 2:8,9).God, in love, sent His Son to die on the Cross to pay for all our sins and offers us His righteousness, by faith in His Son, so we can stand before a Holy God forgiven of all our sins (John 3:16; Rom. 5:6-8; Phil. 3:9).
The Apostle Paul spoke about giving in another context. In it he said, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" (II Cor. 8:9). He goes on to describe the Lord Jesus as an "indescribable gift" (II Cor. 9:15). Have you accepted God's Purim gift to you, His Beloved Son? It is the most important decision you will ever make. Trust Him today.