Timeless Torah

Each year, we fulfill the observances of Purim as they have been practiced for twenty three centuries: we read the Megillah, we send gifts of food to our friends, increase in charity to the poor, and partake of a festive meal replete with food, drink, and unbridled joy.

Originally, however, there were two different conceptions of how the miracle of Purim should be commemorated, propagated by the two heroes, Mordechai and Esther. Our sages tell us that it was Mordechai’s desire that Purim should be a full-fledged holiday, a day of sabbatical rest like Passover and Sukkot.

On the other hand, while both Mordechai and Esther instituted the practice of sending food, charity and feasting, the concept of the Megillah came solely from Esther. It was she who desired that the story be written in a scroll and included among the twenty-four books of the Bible and read on Purim.

The different Purims envisioned by Mordechai and Esther reflect their respective roles. It was Mordechai who personified the faith of his people with his refusal to bow to Haman; it was he who identified the source of Israel’s vulnerability to Haman’s decree, who called upon the people to repent and return to G-d, who led them in fasting and prayer, who gathered thousands of Jewish children and studied Torah in order to arouse the mercy of Heaven. Esther, on the other hand, was the one who risked her life by approaching King Achashverosh, who provoked the monarch’s wrath against Haman and prevailed upon him to empower the Jewish people to militarily defend themselves against their enemies.

In other words, Mordechai was the soul of Purim, the one who rectified the spiritual state of his people and summoned forth heavenly interference. Esther was its body, the one who manipulated the physical events through which the salvation came about.

Thus, Mordechai envisioned Purim as a spiritual holiday, a day on which the Jew eschews all creative involvement with the material world, while Esther saw it as a day that is very much part of the physical reality.

This is also why it was Esther who insisted that the story of Purim be written down and read aloud each Purim, while Mordechai felt that it was enough that it be remembered and commemorated by a series of observances, as is the case with the other festivals.

To Mordechai, it was enough that the Jews of future generations be reminded of the miracle when they observe the rituals of Purim, whereas Esther felt that the events should be perpetuated not only as thoughts in the consciousness of Israel but also in written, verbalized and concrete words.

When the observances of Purim were institutionalized by the Sanhedrin, it was Esther’s vision that prevailed. The Purim we observe today is Esther’s physical Purim rather than Mordechai’s spiritual model, which is why the Megillah is called “The Book of Esther” and not “The Book of Mordechai.” Purim has been decisively established as Esther’s story, Esther’s miracle, Esther’s festival. For Purim is the festival of the body and not the soul.