Purim: Turn it Upside Down and Shake it Out

(1) Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who sanctified us with commandments and commanded us to be engrossed in the words of Torah.

Some time afterward, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite; he advanced him and seated him higher than any of his fellow officials. All the king’s courtiers in the palace gate knelt and bowed low to Haman, for such was the king’s order concerning him; but Mordecai would not kneel or bow low. Then the king’s courtiers who were in the palace gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s order?” When they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai’s resolve would prevail; for he had explained to them that he was a Jew. When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel or bow low to him, Haman was filled with rage. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone; having been told who Mordecai’s people were, Haman plotted to do away with all the Jews, Mordecai’s people, throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus. In the first month, that is, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, pur—which means “the lot”—was cast before Haman concerning every day and every month, [until it fell on] the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar. Haman then said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the other peoples in all the provinces of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; and it is not in Your Majesty’s interest to tolerate them. If it please Your Majesty, let an edict be drawn for their destruction, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the stewards for deposit in the royal treasury.” Thereupon the king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the foe of the Jews. And the king said, “The money and the people are yours to do with as you see fit.”

(17) Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt— (18) how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear. (19) Therefore, when the LORD your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

(2) “Thus said the LORD of Hosts: I am exacting the penalty for what Amalek did to Israel, for the assault he made upon them on the road, on their way up from Egypt. (3) Now go, attack Amalek, and proscribe all that belongs to him. Spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and asses!” (4) Saul mustered the troops and enrolled them at Telaim: 200,000 men on foot, and 10,000 men of Judah. (5) Then Saul advanced as far as the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the wadi. (6) Saul said to the Kenites, “Come, withdraw at once from among the Amalekites, that I may not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they left Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites. (7) Saul destroyed Amalek from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is close to Egypt, (8) and he captured King Agag of Amalek alive. He proscribed all the people, putting them to the sword; (9) but Saul and the troops spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the second-born, the lambs, and all else that was of value. They would not proscribe them; they proscribed only what was cheap and worthless.

Samuel said, “Bring forward to me King Agag of Amalek.” Agag approached him with faltering steps; and Agag said, “Ah, bitter death is at hand!” Samuel said: “As your sword has bereaved women, So shall your mother be bereaved among women.” And Samuel cut Agag down before the LORD at Gilgal.

Rabbi Phineas said: Two wealthy men arose in the world, one in Israel and one among the nations of the world, Korah in Israel, and Haman among the nations of the world, who took the treasures of the kings of Judah. (When) the king saw his wealth and his ten sons keeping guard before him, he exalted him, and aggrandized him, as it is said, "After || these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman, the son of Hammedatha" (Esth. 3:1). The king commanded concerning him that all the people should bow down and show reverence to him. What did Haman do? He made for himself an image of an idol, and had it embroidered upon his dress, above his heart, so that everyone who bowed down to Haman also bowed down to the idol which he had made. Mordecai saw this, and did not consent to bow down to the idol, as it is said, "But Mordecai bowed not down, nor did him reverence" (Esth. 3:2); and (Haman) was full of wrath against him, and said: These Jews hated my forefathers from of old, and now will I say to the king that he should destroy them from the world. Haman entered before Ahasuerus, and said to him: O my lord, O king, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom" (Esth. 3:8), and they are of no benefit to thee and do not obey thee, and they do not perform thy will, and it is not for the king's profit to suffer them. If it please the king, accept half of my wealth and give me power over them, as it is said, "If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed" (Esth. 3:9). (The king) said to him: Behold, they are given into thy hand for nought, as it is said, "And the king said to Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also" (Esth. 3:11). The Holy Spirit cried out, saying: "Thus saith the Lord, Ye were sold for nought, || and ye shall be redeemed without money" (Isa. 52:3).

Timna sought to convert. She came before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they did not accept her. She went and became a concubine of Eliphaz, son of Esau, and said, referring to herself: It is preferable that she will be a maidservant for this nation, and she will not be a noblewoman for another nation. Ultimately, Amalek, son of Eliphaz, emerged from her, and that tribe afflicted the Jewish people. What is the reason that the Jewish people were punished by suffering at the hand of Amalek? It is due to the fact that they should not have rejected her when she sought to convert. Therefore, the verse is significant.

Reish Lakish said: At the time when the wicked Haman said to Ahasuerus, “Come, let us destroy Israel from the world”, Ahasuerus replied: You cannot overcome them, because their God does not forsake them at all. Come, see what they did to the ancient kings who came before us who raised up their arms against them. Those kingdoms were mighty and more numerous than we are. And yet everyone who came upon them to annihilate them from the world and to scheme against them, they were annihilated from the world and became a lesson for all those who dwell on earth. And we who do not have their advantages, how much the more so! Enough of your chatter, recant this decree. Even so, the wicked Haman bothered Ahasuerus about the decree all the time and advised him with wicked schemes about Israel. Ahasuerus said: If so (if it really means this much to you), let’s consult the advisors and soothsayers. Immediately, he sent and gathered all the advisors from the nations of the world. They all came before him. Ahasuerus said to them: Is it your will for us to destroy this nation from the world? They said all at once: Who is the one who wishes to do thus?! For if you destroy Israel from the world, the world will cease to exist! The world only exists because of the Torah which was given to Israel. (As it is written “As surely as I have established my covenant with day and night-- have I not ruled the heavens and the earth?” (Jer. 33:25). And not only that, but all idolaters are called foreigners before the Holy Blessed one, as it is written, “Or if a foreigner who is not from your nation of Israel…” (1 Kings 8:41), and Israel is called close ones, as it is written “For the Children of Israel, God’s nation of close ones” (Ps. 148:14). And not only that, but they are also called God’s children, as it is written, “My eldest son is Israel” (Ex. 4:22) and “You are children of the Lord your God” (Deut. 14:1). And the Holy Blessed One is called a close one of Israel, as it is written, “God is close to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth” (Ps. 145:18). There is no nation closer to the Holy Blessed One than Israel, as it is written, “(For what great nation has a god as close to it) as our God whenever we call upon Him?” (Deut. 4:7).) And if a person wants to raise a hand against the Holy Blessed One’s close ones and children, how can he survive? For God rules over the upper and lower worlds and every living soul! God has the ability to raise up and knock down, to kill and to give life! Go and investigate what came to pass with the ancient kings who raised their hands against Israel-- what happened to them, like Sanheriv and Pharaoh? Immediately, Haman said to them: The God who drowned Pharaoh in the sea and did all those miracles and wonders for Israel that you have heard about-- He is elderly and powerless! Nebuchadnezzar was able to ascend and destroy His house, burn His sanctuary, and exile Israel and scatter them among the nations. And where is his power and might? He has aged! As it says, “They say: The Lord sees not, the God of Jacob does not attend.” (Ps. 94:7) When he presented this argument, they immediately accepted his words and were of one mind to end Israel. And they wrote proclamations and signed them. And thus was written in those proclamations: Greetings to you who are innumerable! You surely know that among us there is a man who is not from our place but rather he is from the royal bloodline and from Amalek’s bloodline and he is among the greatest men of our generation -- and his name is Haman. He was asked a small, insignificant question about one of the nations in our midst, lowly among the nations but exceedingly haughty. They seek our downfall and regularly curse the king. (And what is the curse they curse us with? “God is King forever, nations shall perish from His land” (Ps. 10:16) and they further say, “To impose retribution upon the nations and punishment upon the peoples” (Ps. 149:7).) And they rebel against those who have done them good. Come and see what they did to poor Pharaoh. When they went down to Egypt, he greeted them warmly, settled them in the best of the land, sustained them in the years of famine, and fed them all the best from his land. His palaces needed to be built and they were employed to build there. Nonetheless, he could not overpower them. And not only that! They also treated him with deception. They said, “To sacrifice to our God, we will walk a distance of three days’ travel (Ex. 5:3) and then come back. If it is your will, lend us silver and gold and clothing.” And they lent their silver and gold and all the nice clothing they had and packed up untold numbers of donkeys. Thus they completely ransacked Egypt-- as it is written, “They completely ransacked Egypt” (Ex. 12:36) -- and escaped. When Pharaoh heard that they were escaping, he went after them to reclaim his money. What did they do to him? They had a man with them named Moshe ben Amram. With his sorcery he lifted some stick and cast a spell on it and hit the sea until it split. They all entered on dry land in the midst of the sea and all of them passed through. I do not know how they passed or how the sea dried up. When Pharaoh saw this, he went after them to reclaim his money. I do not know how they pushed him into the sea, but he and all his soldiers drowned. And they did not recall the good he had done for them. Do you not agree that they are ingrates?! And further -- what did they do to Amalek my grandfather? At the time when they did battle -- as it says, “Amalek came and did battle against Israel at Refidim” (Ex. 17:8). And from where was Amalek coming? Rabbi Keruspedai said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan, he was coming from the wicked Bilaam. Amalek had gone to seek advice from him. He said, “I know that you are a schemer and also a wicked planner and all who take advice from you succeed.” Bilaam said to him, “Look what that nation did to Egypt, who had done so much good for them-- if that’s what they did to Egypt, what would they do to the other nations?!” Amalek said, “How do you advise me?” Bilaam said to him, “Go do battle with them. If you do not do battle with them you will never overcome them, because they rely on the merit of their ancestor Abraham -- but you also are a descendant of Abraham who can rely on his merit!” Immediately, he went to do battle with them. What did their leader Moshe do? He had a disciple named Yehoshua bin Nun. He was exceedingly cruel and had no mercy. That Moshe said to him, “Choose men for us to do battle with Amalek” (Ex. 17:9). I do not know whether those men he chose were sorcerers or warriors. What did that Moshe do? He picked up his staff. I do not know what he did with it. And when they met for battle I do not know what kind of spell he cast, but [the Israelites] let loose and [the Amalekites] fell before them. Thus it is written, “Joshua subdued Amalek and his people by sword” (Ex. 17:13). They came to Sihon and Og, warriors of our land, before whom no creature can stand. I do not know how they killed them. They came to the kings of Midian. I do not know how they killed them. And further -- what did that disciple of that Moshe do? He brought the Israelites into the land of Canaan. It wasn’t enough to take their land, but they also killed thirty one kings and divided up their land among the Israelites. They were merciless -- those who they did not seek to kill were taken as slaves. They came to Sisera and his troops. I do not know what they did to Wadi Kishon, which swept them up like ashes and carried them off and threw them in the great sea. As it says, “The Wadi Kishon swept them away” (Judges 5:21). And they had a first king named Saul. He led them to battle in the land of my grandfather Amalek. He killed 100,000 soldiers in one day and he did not take pity on any man, woman, baby, or infant. I do not know how he killed them. And further, what did they do to Agag, my ancestor, on whom they had taken pity initially? In the end, a man came from among them named Samuel and cut him up and fed his flesh to the birds of the sky. As it says, “Samuel cut down Agag” (1 Sam. 15:33). And I do not know why he killed him by this unusual method, as you have heard. And after that they had a king named David ben Yishai. He slaughtered and annihilated all the kingdoms and did not take pity on them, as it says “David left alive neither man nor woman.” (1 Sam 27:11) And after him arose his son, Solomon. He built a house for the Israelites and called it “The House of Holiness” (beit hamikdash). I do not know what they had inside it but when they were going to battle, they would go inside it and do sorcery. And when they came out, they killed and destroyed the world. And in spite of all of the good they had, they rebelled against their God. And also their God had aged. So Nebuchadnezzar came and burnt their house and exiled them from their land and brought them among us. Yet they still have not changed their repulsive ways. Even though they are exiled among us, they mock us and our faith in our gods. So now we have all come to a consensus. We drew lots to destroy them from the world, to decide at what time we should end them. The lot fell for them in the month of Adar on the 13th day. Now, when these proclamations arrive to you, you are invited on that day to massacre and destroy all the Jews among you, from child to elder, babies and women in one day. Thus there will be no shred or survivor left. When the proclamations were signed and given into Haman’s hand, he and all his crew were joyful. They encountered Mordecai who was walking ahead of them. Mordecai saw three children coming from school. He ran after them. When Haman and his crew saw that Mordecai was running after the children, they followed him to find out what he would ask them. When Mordecai caught up to the children, he said to one of them, “Quote to me the verse you are learning.” He said, “Do not fear sudden terror or the disaster of the wicked when it comes” (Prov. 3:25). The second joined in and said, “I also learned Tanakh today and the last verse I ended on was: Hatch a plot-- it will be foiled! Agree on an action-- it will not succeed. For with us is God!” (Isa. 8:10) The third joined in and said, “Til you grow old, I will still be the same. When you turn gray, it is I who will carry. I was the Maker and I am the Carrier, I will carry and rescue you.” (Isa. 46:4) When Mordecai heard this, he laughed and was overjoyed. Haman asked him, “Why are you so joyful about the words of these children?” Mordecai said, “Because they have given me the good word that I shouldn’t fear from the wicked scheme you are plotting against us!” Haman was angered and said, “I will lift my hand first against these children.”

Esther told Hathach to take back to Mordecai the following reply: “All the king’s courtiers and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any person, man or woman, enters the king’s presence in the inner court without having been summoned, there is but one law for him—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the golden scepter to him may he live. Now I have not been summoned to visit the king for the last thirty days.” When Mordecai was told what Esther had said, Mordecai had this message delivered to Esther: “Do not imagine that you, of all the Jews, will escape with your life by being in the king’s palace. On the contrary, if you keep silent in this crisis, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another quarter, while you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows, perhaps you have attained to royal position for just such a crisis.” Then Esther sent back this answer to Mordecai: “Go, assemble all the Jews who live in Shushan, and fast in my behalf; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens will observe the same fast. Then I shall go to the king, though it is contrary to the law; and if I am to perish, I shall perish!” So Mordecai went about [the city] and did just as Esther had commanded him.

And in every province and in every city, when the king’s command and decree arrived, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many of the people of the land professed to be Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them. And so, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month—that is, the month of Adar—when the king’s command and decree were to be executed, the very day on which the enemies of the Jews had expected to get them in their power, the opposite happened, and the Jews got their enemies in their power.

As Rabbi Neḥemya would say: With regard to converts by lions, i.e., forced converts such as the Samaritans [Kutim] described in II Kings (17:24–25); and converts who convert based on their dreams; and converts of the time of Mordecai and Esther described in the verse, “And many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen upon them” (Esther 8:17); all of these are not converts until they are converted at this present time.