BS”D
Purim Special – Recognition of the hidden patterns of Life.
I discussed in a previous post the fact that the book of
Esther, within her name is the root of to be hidden.
When one fails to see and reflect on the patterns in one’s
life and environments the hidden messages, we may fail to realise we are all children of the universe
heading towards a great destination and may potentially lose hope with life – we need to thus realise the world is not a random coincidence
but life is truly overseen by Hashem then that becomes the ultimate joy a
person can come too, there is not better.
This I think is the theme of Purim and why we feast and are so festive.
Haman – was a descendant of Amalek and as discussed in
previous posts Amalek is the force in the world that denies G-d no matter what
his eye’s see, he fails to see and hear and respond to the miracle of life.
Rabbi Goldfein of blessed memory gave me a remarkable
insight on his tape about Purim he takes us back to the source of the first
denial of G-d’s true power in the world, away from life towards destruction…
"The
woman said to the snake, 'Of the fruit of any tree of the garden we may eat. Of
the fruit of the tree in the centre of the garden G-d has said, "You shall
neither eat of it nor touch it, lest you die.’ (Genesis 3:2)
The snake responded:
"G-d
knows that when you will eat from that Tree, your eyes will be opened and you
will become god-like..." (Genesis 3:5)
In the Torah it was
the Snake in the Garden of Eden who tempts Eve , he enters her Ego by offering her the ultimate
in greatness to be like the cause of all causes!
We need to understand the message the Torah is teaching in
relating this incident to us the mind is powerful, it can be deceived if it
follows the Evil inclinations.
What is man – We discussed before Man is an upright creation
he stands tall and upright, vertical he has a higher calling than animals, he is the only
of creations that walks upright! He has
Wisdom and intellect incomparable to other creatures who walk the Earth, he is
able to reflect on the world the patterns in life to create within and subdue the
world – he is made in the image of G-d Almighty, man can recognise the
Greatness of creation he can reflect on it and impact it to bring order and peace
and work towards all the good things we all want! Man has the ability to work in a unified way
to build and bring order, he is a social being, a constructive being a compassionate
being, a loving being a thinking being that can ponder the blessings bestowed
on him and offer thanks, man is the sole creature that can truly worship.
What is a snake – quite the opposite it is a lowly creature
it is isolated from other creatures it walks alone, it slithers along
Horizontal on the ground, it cannot walk along the straight and narrow, it
moves in a crooked way it does not need Hashem in its life for dust and all in its
path is its food. It bites at will, higher species of snake attack and kill
when they can, and it is loathsome to most.
When we say someone is a snake, we mean he is slimy, crooked and
dangerous.
So man by listening to his Evil inclinations and ego, lets a snake enter his soul, and brings
crookedness, hate and pain much destruction in its wake.
In the book of Esther - Haman is the snake he used all the
good that was given to him, and chose to walk the path of a destroyer, to
commit a genocide! Why – ego – and a denial of the holiness of every human being
- so he uses the snake and manipulates King Achashverosh into
sealing the fate of every single Jew to death.
This is no story it happened and although the patterns were
hidden Esther guided by Mordechai had faith in G-d. Purim means, “Lots” by chance coincidently”
that is how Haman chose to destroy our people he chose the date by chance he
fell upon it. He denied the order of the
Universe.
However Hashem’s hand is at play throughout the events
hidden -ultimately what would happen to Haman and all his crooked scheming – it
comes back to bite him, he is hung on
the tree he planted for Mordechai. An Interesting parallel pointed out by Rabbi
Goldfein ZTL, Haman’s fate, that of Amalek is ultimately to be destroyed – by a tree, a tree the same symbol as used by the Snake when he introduces temptation to Eve who let Evil and crookedness enter her and Adam's Soul. But Evil is only destroyed by good people,
people who are straight and recognise Life for what It is – a gift a blessing, bestowed on us by our Creator and this my friends is a reason to celebrate
Purim a realisation that our fates are not random events but events leading to
an ultimate salvation. The Mask should be removed soon and speedily may it G-d
Willing be soon in our days!
I want to include now with this introduction in mind articles
written by Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein on Purim, included with his
permission –and thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu for imparting wisdom to Flesh and
Blood, helping us along the way to recognise truth, even though at times we
enter our trials hopefully we will come to a place where we and the universe
can celebrate and feast, when the snake will leave us and when all will be
revealed by the cause of all causes – I am sure you will enjoy these posts as much
as I did!
Purim : Cynicism vs Holiness (Edited
Transcript)
What is the test of a truly great person? Is there some kind of litmus
test which can identify our true essence?
Indeed, there is: in chapter 27 of the Book of Proverbs, it says Ish
lefi mahalalo, which Rabbeinu Yonah, one of our great commentators from the
Middle Ages, translates to mean that a person’s definition is in accordance
with what he praises. If we want to know the true nature of a person, there is
only one question to ask: what is it that they praise? What is important to
them and what are their priorities? By answering that, we get a glimpse into
the true character of a person. If we want to know about a society, we must ask
who its heroes are and what are its priorities and values, for the things we
value reveal who we are.
Rav Yitzchak Hutner, one of the great rabbinic leaders of the twentieth
century, says that there are some people – cynics – who actually praise
nothing. In the language of our Sages, such a person is called a letz, a
“scoffer.” For the cynic, life is empty; there is nothing worthy of praise,
nothing important, special or meaningful. Cynicism means looking at life coldly
and esteeming nothing. Thus, it is not only about what we do or do not value
which reflects our true character, but whether in fact we value anything at
all.
The name “Purim” signifies a philosophical struggle
On the upcoming festival of Purim, which we will celebrate please G-d on
the 14th day of the Jewish month of Adar, we will read about the
Haman’s attempted genocide against the Jewish people and the great miracles
that Hashem performed to bring about the Jews’ salvation. But Purim isn’t just
about an attempted genocide against the Jewish people and Mordechai and
Esther’s intervening in order to save them. Something else was taking place – a
much deeper, philosophical struggle.
To understand this, let us first understand why this festival is called
Purim. Purim actually means the casting of lots. When Haman decided he was
going to wipe out the entire Jewish people throughout the Persian Empire, he
cast lots to pick a date for the genocide and it came out to the 13th
day of the month of Adar, the day that we observe Ta’anit Esther, the
fast of Esther. The Ibn Ezra, one of our commentators from the Middle Ages,
points out that the word Purim is not even a Hebrew word, but a Persian one.
Why does the festival get a name which signifies the random casting of lots?
And why a Persian word?
This raises another question: why did Haman cast random lots to choose a
date for destroying the Jewish people, instead of picking a date that would be
convenient for him? Normally, when planning an event – and certainly when
someone is planning genocide – one would plan it at a suitable, carefully
thought-out time. It’s hard enough to plan the logistics of something of such
magnitude; why didn’t Haman pick a date that would suited him and his troops
best (for example, a time of year when the weather is suitable, and other
considerations)? Why did he cast random lots?
Haman came from the nation of Amalek – the ultimate cynics. We see their
true nature exhibited in the first attack against the Jewish people, which the
verse describes as asher karcha baderech, who “chanced upon you on the
way.” (Deuteronomy 25:17-18) The word karcha, from the word mikreh,
means “by chance,” representing Amalek’s philosophy that everything happens by
chance. They believed in the randomness of life and were the ultimate cynics.
When the Jewish people came out of Egypt, no one would dare to go near
them. The Torah describes the fear and trepidation that the nations felt in the
face of this nation which had just emerged victorious from Egypt, the
superpower at that time, and had witnessed the miracles of the ten plagues and
the splitting of the sea. There was an aura of invincibility about the Jewish
people, till Amalek came and tampered with this aura. Rashi compares Amalek’s
attack to a boiling hot bath; no one wants to get in but after the first person
jumps in, the bath cools off and then other people feel at ease to jump in as
well. So too with Amalek: once they attacked, the Jews were no longer
invincible and other nations felt at ease to attack.
What gave Amalek the confidence to attack the Jews? It was their
cynicism. They saw the plagues and the miracles and it meant nothing to them.
Their worldview was based on a philosophy of randomness, that life is
meaningless and makes no difference and that things just “happen.” Haman’s
method of casting lots for a date for the genocide stemmed from Amalek’s
worldview. The word Purim represents the philosophy against which the Jewish
people were fighting at the time – the philosophy of Amalek, the worldview that
life is empty and random.
Judaism is based on a belief in purpose and Divine Providence. G-d
created the world and it is perfect by design; it didn’t just “happen.” Each
one of us is in this world because G-d wants us to be here. He has given each
of us a mission to fulfil and therefore what we do is indeed meaningful and
important. The whole Torah is based on the fact that what we do, each and every
single day, is important; whether we avoid saying a word of lashon hara,
whether we give charity, whether we eat kosher – whatever it is, it is actually
important to G-d. Everything we do on a daily basis has significance in
Hashem’s eyes; it is neither random nor meaningless. Amalek believed nothing
made any difference, that nothing is important or special.
The meaning of “holiness”
One of the core concepts of Judaism is what we call in Hebrew kedusha.
Kedusha is difficult to translate, though it is generally translated as
“holiness.” Holiness means something which has been designated for a
specific purpose, something which is special. This is why one of the components
of a Jewish marriage ceremony is kiddushin, from the word kedusha,
signifying that there is a special relationship here, and that this man and
this woman have designated one another as spouse to the exclusion of all
others. Holiness means that there is something special in this world and thus
it is the very opposite of the concept of randomness. The theory of random
evolution seeks to exclude G-d from the creation of the world, claiming that this
magnificent world in all of its perfection just came about randomly. But it’s
even more than that: it’s a philosophy which says that life is meaningless. If
life came about just by chance, if we are all here because of some big
accident, then life is indeed meaningless and it makes no difference what we
do, whether we are good or bad, whether we lead a good life or not. From the
perspective of evolutionary theory, nothing we do matters because the whole
world and our existence therein is simply an accident. This is the ultimate
cynicism.
In contrast, Judaism teaches that life is special and significant. In
fact, the recognition that human life is precious is the basis for morality: if
there is no value to human life, what is the crime of harming another human
being? Morality is founded on the principle that human life is sacred, and is
not just an accident; human beings didn’t just “happen”; they were created by
G-d and they have a G-dly soul which makes them special. This is kedusha,
sanctity: recognising that life is special, that what we do is special and that
every human being is special; we are not here by accident.
According to Amalek’s worldview, if human beings are indeed just an
“accident,” then there is nothing wrong with harming them. It’s not coincidental
that Haman was comfortable with genocide; when you believe life is a random
accident and nothing is important, when you believe there is nothing special
about human beings, it’s not a far jump to genocide. But Judaism is about
holiness, which means every human being is created in the image of G-d and,
therefore, to harm another person is to trespass on the sacred property of
Hashem.
G-d’s hand, revealed or hidden, is always there
The great heroine of the Purim story is Queen Esther. The name Esther
comes from the word “hiddenness,” which the Gemara explains comes from the
verse where G-d says haster astir et pannai bayom hahu, “on that day I
will hide My face.” There are times in our history – and in our own personal
lives – when G-d’s presence is hidden; but although he is hidden, it doesn’t
mean He is not there. Queen Esther came with the belief that G-d designed the
world and imbued creation with a purpose, and that He is interested in what
happens in the world at large and in our personal lives. He watches over human
affairs, He guides the world and everything He does is ultimately for the good.
Even though at times we go through difficulties and suffering and we can’t see
the bigger picture, we believe with perfect faith that He is there and guiding
our destiny. Esther believed in Divine Providence, in a G-dly purpose and a
Divine plan, and therefore she stood up against Haman who believed in the
randomness of things.
The message of the Book of Esther is that there is a Divine plan. G-d
intervenes not only via open miracles such as the ten plagues and the splitting
of the sea, but also via hidden miracles, guiding events behind the scenes.
Queen Esther was appointed just in time to foil Haman’s scheme; although it
appeared “natural,” it was not random. On Pesach we celebrate the revealed hand
of G-d, the open miracles; but Purim is about seeing G-d’s hidden hand and
recognising that these miracles, although they are hidden, are no less
important than the revealed miracles. They are all the work of G-d, who has a
purpose and a plan for us.
This is why on Purim we celebrate like no other festival. It’s a
celebration of life itself, and the victory over Amalek, the archenemy of the
Jewish people and the epitome of cynicism. Our response to cynicism is
inspiration and joy. Judaism teaches us not to be cynical about life but to be
inspired. We must not view life with cold emptiness; rather, we must view G-d’s
plan and design with passion and energy, living every moment like it is a
precious gift because indeed it is. Purim is about seizing life and living it
in accordance with Hashem’s will and valuing what we do and who we are. How we
live our lives is so important and so precious in G-d’s eyes and when we
realise that, it brings the ultimate joy: nothing is as joyful as knowing that
our lives have purpose, meaning and eternal significance.
The plan revealed:
http://www.chiefrabbi.co.za this is an oldie so you need to search under Purimfest
“Purimfest, 1946″ – The Purim Link
Between Nazi Germany And Nuclear Iran
What did Streicher mean by this? Why would a condemned Nazi mention
Purim in his last words? Streicher was obviously familiar with Megillat Esther,
which tells of the attempted genocide Haman planned, and how, when his plans
were thwarted and they were defeated, Haman and his ten sons were hanged.
Streicher was acutely aware of the irony of history – that he was one of ten
Nazis hanged after being sentenced at the Nuremberg Trials. (In fact, eleven
had been sentenced to death but Goering committed suicide before his sentence
was carried out.) And so in the end ten were hanged, just like Haman’s ten sons
in the Book of Esther. Amazingly, Streicher saw the historic link between the
Nazi genocide and the attempted genocide of Haman, who, like the Nazis, also intended
to wipe out every Jew – man, woman and child.
But there is an even deeper irony, which Streicher was certainly not
aware of. Megillat Esther lists the names of Haman’s ten sons and according to
the Halachah, three of the letters in these names are written in smaller
font than the rest of the text – a tav, a shin and a zayin
– and one letter is written in larger font – a vav. What do these
unusually sized letters signify?
For generations different explanations have been offered. In the 20th
century, however, another amazing meaning was discovered. The large vav
is numerically 6, corresponding to the sixth millennium; the small tav, shin
and zayin are numerically 707; together, these numbers refers to the 707th
year of the sixth millennium – in other words, the Jewish year 5707, which
corresponds to 1946, the year in which these ten high-ranking Nazis were
hanged. Thus, the unusually sized letters - vav, tav, shin
and zayin – found in the names of Haman’s ten sons allude to the year of
the execution of these ten Nazi war criminals. What is further fascinating is
that they were sentenced on the 1st of October, in the days between
Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur of 1946, and hanged on the 16th of
October, which that year came out on Hoshana Rabbah, which, according to the
Zohar, is the day that judgment of the world is finalized.
Since the Torah is G-d’s wisdom for all times, there are often things
which cannot be properly understood until generations later. The differences in
the font size of the letters in the list of Haman’s ten sons was not completely
understood in previous generations. There were other explanations for it, but
only in October 1946 did the full meaning of it become clear as ten Nazis were
hanged in the Jewish year 5707, tav shin zayin.
What does all this mean? The answer comes from one of the great heroines
of Jewish history, Queen Esther. At risk to her life, with bravery, conviction
and loyalty, she intervened to save her people. Through her bold and dramatic
life, Queen Esther showed us that G-d’s presence permeates our history. She
understood that her fate and destiny – and that of her people – were in G-d’s
hands. Esther taught us that sometimes G-d interacts with the world through
open miracles as we experienced with the ten plagues and the splitting of the
sea during the Exodus from Egypt. But mostly He does so in a hidden way, as
happened during the time of Purim, when the miraculous salvation of the Jewish
people was just as great as the open miracles and yet occurred in a way that was
hidden from view and seemingly “natural.” The Gemara (Chulin 139b) says
that the name “Esther” comes from the Hebrew root “to hide” and refers to the
verse where G-d says, “on that day I will hide My face from you” (Devarim
31:18). As we know, in the entire Book of Esther, G-d’s name is not mentioned
once; yet His presence is everywhere. Through our celebrations on Purim, we
attribute all of the miracles of that time to G-d’s direct intervention in
history, albeit hidden behind the machinations of politics and world affairs.
Queen Esther’s message is that we must not relate to these events in
natural terms alone; we need to see G-d’s presence in everything, even though
He is hidden. Esther’s message applies to us as individuals in our day-to-day
lives, where, as Judaism teaches, G-d is involved and interested in every
aspect of life; and it also applies to Jewish destiny and history at large,
which powerfully demonstrate G-d’s involvement in the affairs of people and the
direction of civilizations. The supernatural miracles of the establishment of
the State of Israel and the rebirth of Torah learning throughout the world
following the devastation of the Holocaust are but two examples of many which
show G-d’s power and presence in everything.
And even in our current dangers, we can feel G-d’s presence and
involvement. Julius Streicher, as he was being executed, saw with clarity the
connection between the Nazi genocide and the attempted genocide planned by
Haman. And now the very country in which Haman lived and in which the events of
the Book of Esther took place – Persia – is the very same country that today is
called Iran, where the new Hamans, the new Nazis, are proclaiming their
intentions of genocide against the Jewish people. This ironic twist of history is
so eerie and uncanny that it clearly shows us G-d’s presence in these events
which affect the Jewish people and the world at large.
Our response to this latest declaration of intent to commit genocide
coming from modern-day Persia, must be in the spirit of our great leader and
prophetess, Queen Esther. Let us follow her example. Esther pursued not only a
practical plan of action that was well executed politically and strategically,
but she also pursued a spiritual plan instructing Mordechai to gather the people
to repent, pray and fast. She understood and felt G-d’s presence in all of the
events, and so too should we.
At this time of grave danger, we must follow Esther’s example: prepare
practically and strategically, but also spiritually – in the form of prayer and
repentance as we heed G-d’s call to return to Him. May G-d once again bless His
people with redemption and liberation so that we may give thanks to Him as we
says in our Purim prayers, “for the miracles, the redemption, the mighty deeds
and the victories in battle which You performed for our ancestors in those days
and in this time.”
Wishing us all a festive Purim
"Light, Gladness, Joy and Honor for
the Jewish people" (Esther 8:16).
"And it was turned around, the Jews
prevailed over their enemies". Esther (9:1)
Have a Festive Purim!
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