Purim, if it is nothing else, is a day focused on
unity.Chazal point out that Haman’s main argument for the destruction of Bnei
Yisrael was that we lacked unity, “Yeshno Am Echad Mefuzar Umefurad”. They are a nation that is fragmented and
fractured.
And the Mitzvos of Purim come specifically to combat
that notion of our infighting, and instead to bring us together. Mishloach
Manos, The Purim Seuda, and Matanos L’Evyonim are all focused on reaching out
one Jew to the other. The gemara in שבת
even recognizes the significance of Purim as a time of Kabalas HaTorah, a time
where we once again became “k’Ish Echad b’lev echad. But if this is all true,
then we come upon a few conundrums when it comes to the structure of the
holiday:
Question #1
With all of the divergent minhagim throughout Klal
Yisrael, with the differences found between those who live in Eretz Yisrael and
in the Diaspora, never do we find a holiday which is created in its original
form to take place on different days for different Jews. The holiday of
unity, the holiday of “Lech Knos Es Kol HaYehudim” as Esther calls to Mordechai
to gather all of the Jews together, has two separate days: The 14th for most of Klal Yisrael,
and the 15th, Shushan Purim, for all those living in walled cities. How
strange that specifically in the holiday of unity we should institutionalize a
distinction between Jews?!
Question #2
The reason for two different days according to
the Megillah, is that the Jews in the entire kingdom fought their enemies on
the 13th and celebrated their victory on the 14th. In Shushan, however, they fought on the 14th
as well, and they celebrated on the 15th. Hence the name, Shushan Purim. However, when
we determine which cities should celebrate on the 15th Chazal tell
us that it depends on if the city had a wall during the days of Yehoshua Bin
Nun. Yehoshua Bin Nun was our leader centuries earlier, during the original
conquest of Eretz Yisrael. What
does he have to do with Purim? The Rambam says the reason is
“Sheyihiye Zecher l’Eretz Yisrael B’neis Haze”, that there should be a
recognition, a remembering of Eretz Yisrael with regard to the neis of
Purim. So…when determining a walled city
we look to Eretz Yisrael. But that just begs the next question: Why is it so important to have a
connection to Eretz Yisrael in the celebration of Purim?
Question #3
The Ten sons of Haman are written in the megillah columns. Says the Gemara in
Megillah there are only two times when names are listed in columns – ten
sons of Haman, and 31 kings of Canaan listed in the time of Yehoshua. Again,
yet another connection between Purim, Yehoshua, and Eretz Yisrael. Why?
Rav Eli Baruch Shulman, a Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University, offers a novel answer to both of our questions:
If we want to understand Purim appropriately, we have to look at it
within its historical context. The first 4 perakim of
Sefer Ezra tell us an important story that predates the story of Purim. King
Cyrus of Persia, the King who precedes Achashveirosh, gave a command that the
Jews should rebuild Yerushalayim. It was a time of great hope, as a foundation
was laid for a new Beis HaMikdash.
However, the non-Jewish inhabitants of Eretz Yisrael
were not happy to see the Jews returning and did everything in their power to
disrupt Jewish building in the land. They attacked them constantly, with the
Jews eventually hiring armed guards to protect them as they rebuilt
Yerushalayim. Eventually, the Non-Jews
sent a letter to the King of Persia, claiming the Jews were disloyal to him and
were planning a revolt. The letter worked, and the Persian King sent back and
edict for the Jews to halt all building in Eretz Yisrael.
Who was the king who received that letter? And who were its authors? Rashi
cites Seder Olam – the letter writers were none other than the ten sons
of Haman. And the king was Achashverosh!
The death of Haman’s sons was
therefore doubly significant. Not only were they the enemies of the Jews, the
children of the author of the plan to destroy them. They were heads of the
terrorist opposition to the rebuilding of Israel. They’re death signified
not only a victory for the Jews of the Persian Empire. It was a victory for
shivas tziyon, for the return to Eretz Yisrael.
And that is why the Gemara compares their death to the deaths of the 31 kings
of Canaan whom Yehoshua defeated when he prepared to conquer Eretz Yisrael the
FIRST TIME. They were both obstacles in the way of the conquest of Eretz
Yisrael. It was after the
victory of Purim, the death of Haman and his ten sons and eventually the rise
of King Darius, who, according to Seder Olam (רש”י,
Ezra 4:24) was the son of Esther and Achashveirosh, that the Jews resumed and
completed the building of the Second Beis HaMikdash.
Therefore, Chazal instituted Shushan Purim; tying it to
walled cities at the time of Yehoshua ben Nun – as the Rambam says, so that
there should be a zeicher l’eretz yisroel beneis zeh, so that as we
celebrate Purim we should be reminded of the goal, a return to Eretz Yisrael.
The goal of Shushan Purim, then, is NOT a day to divide
Jews, a day when one group celebrates separately from the other. Shushan Purim
is the day after Purim. It is the day on which we contemplate the
aftermath of Purim, what were the consequences of
the miracle, what followed in its wake, where did it lead? Because it is the day of Purim itself that set
the foundation for the return to Eretz Yisrael.
And by defining which cities celebrate Shushan Purim in
terms of Yehoshua Ben Nun, the person who symbolizes Bnei Yisrael’s
first entrance into Eretz Yisrael, even writing the names of the Ten sons of
Haman the same way in which the 31 Kings of Canaan who were defeated by
Yeshoshua himself are written, Chazal were reminding us to appreciate the
events of Purim for what they meant not only for that present time, but more
importantly, for our future return to Eretz Yisrael.
And this idea fits nicely with the gemara in Megillah
which asks why we don’t say Hallel on Purim.
After all, it is a day of tremendous simcha for the salvation that Am
Yisrael experienced on that day?! And
one answer the gemara gives is: “Adyain Avdei Achashveirosh Anan”, even as Am
Yisrael were saved from the evil decree of Achashveirosh, we remained under his
rule, living in Exile.
Yes, the yeshua was tremendous, but it would only be
truly meaningful because of the path forward AFTER the day of Purim. If we
would take the incredible miracle of our salvation to help us in our next
stage, as we would head back to rebuild the community in Eretz Yisrael.
We continue to live at a time and in a place where we
as a nation have flourished, and we must continue to give hakaras haTov to this
country and to HKBH for providing us with a place in galus that has provided us
with a unique opportunity to flourish both in ruchniyus and in gashmiyus. But is important that we also understand our
experience in the appropriate historical context as well, with an eye on our
future as a people.
Because no matter any individual’s current
circumstances, it is important that we always remember that we as a people
continue on a journey back to Eretz Yisrael.
It is where we are destined to be, and it is where our future is.
Shushan Purim is NOT meant to be a day that emphasizes a lack of unity,
chalila. Rather, it is just the
opposite. It is the day that reminds all
of us where the future of Am Yisrael was headed AFTER the salvation of Purim,
and it reminds us that our eventual future as a people, takes us to one place: Eretz
Yisrael.