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March 18, 2005
God's oneness revealed
Within free choice, the Divine plan is being fulfilled.
RABBI DAVID AARON
Purim celebrates the salvation of Jews from the wicked Haman's
scheme to exterminate all the Jewish men, women and children living
in the Persian empire in the year 357 BCE; essentially all the Jews
in the world at the time. Some of the commandments of Purim, such
as hearing the Megillat Esther, which recounts the Purim story,
and enjoying a festive meal, are obvious ways to commemorate this
deliverance.
Other commandments and customs have no apparent connection to what
happened on Purim. Why are we required to get so drunk that we do
not know the difference between Haman, the villain, and Mordecai,
the righteous hero of the story? What is behind the customs to dress
up in costume and to eat hamantashen, sweet tarts named,
literally, "Haman's hat"? (In Hebrew, the tarts are called
"Haman's ears.")
Free will, Divine plan
The scroll of Esther is called, in Hebrew, Megillat Esther. "Megillah"
comes from the root word meaning "revelation." The name
Esther is related to the Hebrew word for hiddenness. So Megillat
Esther suggests "the revelation of hiddenness."
The hiddenness that is revealed on Purim is the hiddenness of God's
oneness. The oneness of God is such that God can create a being
who has free choice, yet, mysteriously, that free choice cannot
oppose God's will and plan. It can do other than God's will, but
it won't in any way interfere with God's will and plan.
We see this paradox illustrated throughout the events of the Purim
story. The Jews of the Persian Empire are assimilating. Haman decides
to destroy the Jewish people and proceeds to execute his plot. The
irony is that everything he does to destroy us, destroys him –
and saves us. By threatening our existence, Haman indirectly initiates
a renewal in the Jews' commitment to Torah, reversing the tide of
assimilation that is always the greatest threat to Jewish survival.
And Haman digs his own grave or, more accurately, builds his own
gallows, for the gallows he had built to hang Mordecai are used
for Haman's own execution.
Your life, your choice
In the Purim story, there are no miraculous interventions. In fact,
God's name is not even mentioned. This is a tremendous revelation
of God's oneness: God does not have to interfere. This is the revelation
of hiddenness: within the natural world, within the free choices
of human beings, God's plan is being completely fulfilled, step
by step.
We see this illustrated dramatically in the story of Esther. Esther,
who is secretly Jewish, has, by a strange set of circumstances,
married the King of Persia. (Sounds like fate at work?) Soon after,
Haman the prime minister, begins his plot to destroy the Jewish
people. Mordecai, Esther's uncle, says to her: "We've got to
save the Jewish people. Perhaps God has orchestrated things in this
very manner so that you could be queen and be in a position to save
the Jewish people."
But Esther isn't convinced. She tells Mordecai, "You know the
rules of the palace. If I go to the king without being invited,
he could have me killed!"
To that Mordecai says something bizarre: "If you don't do this,
Esther, the salvation of the Jews will come from somewhere else."
What kind of argument is that? I mean, if you want to get somebody
to do something, what method do you use? Guilt! Mordecai should
have said to Esther, "If you don't do it, the Jewish people
will be destroyed. This will be the end of Jewish history."
Instead he says, "If you don't do it, the Jews will be saved
anyway, but you'll lose the starring role."
Mordecai was teaching Esther the secret of choice. In terms of God's
great plan, it doesn't make a difference what you do, but in terms
of your own life, it makes all the difference in the world. Do you
want to actively, consciously participate in God's plan, or not?
If you don't sign on, it will still happen. You can be the star,
or an extra on the set. It's your choice.
Evil people help us
On Purim, we try to get to a drunken state where we don't perceive
a difference between "blessed Mordecai" and "cursed
Haman." In gematriah (Jewish numerology), the numerical
equivalent of each phrase is the same: 502. In what way is the evil
Haman equal to the righteous Mordecai? Because they both serve the
Divine plan; Haman, with all his foul machinations, initiated the
process of repentance that saved the Jewish people from assimilation
and eventually made them worthy to return to the land of Israel
and rebuild the Temple. This is why the sweet treat of the holiday
is "Haman's ears" – because that bitter, destructive
man turned out to be the source of sweetness and nourishment for
Jewish survival.
That's Haman's greatest punishment: to realize that he saved the
Jewish people. The Talmud teaches that God's praise comes out of
Gehenom (hell) as it comes out of Gan Eden (paradise).
In other words, the evil ones also end up serving God's plan, albeit
against their will.
The oneness of God
On Purim, we're celebrating that everything is going according to
God's plan ... whether we see it or not. On Purim, we recognize
God's hiddenness and celebrate it. That's why we dress in disguises.
We are emulating God, the Master of Disguise, the Master of Hiddenness,
the One Actor playing myriad roles. God is One.
In our ordinary consciousness, we do not see this transcendent oneness.
But on Purim, with a little Jack Daniels, it's amazing what we can
see.
Rabbi David Aaron (www.rabbidavidaaron.com)
is founder and dean of Isralight, which was established in 1986.
He is the author of Endless Light, Seeing God and The
Secret Life of God.
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