Obervances & Rituals:
Reaching the sacred through the profane
By Rabbi Yossi Kenigsberg

Special to The Jewish StateThe upcoming holiday of Purim on its most simplistic level is a day instituted by our sages to celebrate our victory over an archenemy, Haman, who concocted a diabolical scheme to annihilate the Jewish people.

Haman, the prototypical anti-Semite, despised the Jews with a passion. He had particular animosity for Mordechai, who encouraged his fellow Jews to adhere to their religious doctrine in the midst of the hostile Persian Diaspora and refused to prostrate himself to Haman and accept his authority.

Using duplicity and charm, Haman persuaded Achashverosh, the Persian king, to empower him with the jurisdiction to eradicate the Jewish people on the 14th of Adar. Through a remarkable turn of events, Esther, the cousin of Mordechai, is chosen to become Achashverosh’s queen, and devises a plan to gain the sympathy of Achashverosh, and ultimately persuade him to revoke the decree resulting in the salvation of the Jews and the demise of Haman.

There is a profound depth that transcends the simple story and historical events pertaining to Purim that needs to be understood in order to truly appreciate this extraordinary holiday.

Several significant themes emanate from the Purim story:

Salvation can come at any moment

Even when the prospects for success and rescue seem remote, God can provide us with the necessary intervention, sometimes even in the form of an unlikely hero. We should never despair when life’s circumstances appear bleak and dismal. Even when the chances for deliverance seem hopelessly implausible, there is a God who has personal concern over our status and is capable of redeeming us from the most ominous of moments.

At the time of Purim, the Jews were condemned to genocide without any apparent appeal, yet at the last moment they were miraculously saved from destruction. One of the recurring themes of Purim is "venahaphoch hu" and "everything turned upside down". The imminent devastation of the Jewish people was suddenly aborted and their enemies were undermined instead.

Not everything is at it seems

On the surface, the Purim story seems to be a political memoir replete with palace intrigue and Machiavellian posturing. Behind the scenes, however, God was in control. The Almighty sometimes conceals Himself and chooses to operate through nature. Our job is to look behind the superficial and find God even in the mundane and the profane. Megillat Esther does not mention God’s name even once. He chose to work behind the scenes without flagrant miracles and spectacular displays of divine intercession. It becomes incumbent upon us to seek to find God’s personal intervention in our lives, even when His participation is enigmatic and mysterious.

The name of Purim means lotteries, since Haman utilized a series of lotteries to decide on which day his plan should come to fruition. What an unusual name for a holiday! A lottery symbolizes the concept of randomness. The results are assumed to be coincidental -- Haman believed that the world functioned on an arbitrary basis. The holiday of Purim reminds us that even when the world seems to be spinning out of control, everything is following God’s master plan.

Purim-Yom Kippur connection

Finally, our sages teach us that based on the similarity of names there is an apparent commonality between Yom Kippurim and Purim. How is it possible that the holiest day of the year when we pray, fast, and involve ourselves in a period of penitence and sacred pursuits be comparable to a day immersed in frivolity, physical indulgence, and feasting? These two days reflect two components of our relationship with God. On Yom Kippur, we aspire to reach Him on an angelic level, acting like celestial beings. By denying all physical pleasures we are relating to God on His terms. On Purim we reach holiness as human beings.

Although we engage ourselves in the physical domain, even to the point of inebriation, our goal is to embrace sanctity through our physical existence. We are relating to God on our terms. The ability granted to us on Purim to achieve sanctity and cleave to the Almighty as corporeal beings through joy and jubilation is an opportunity to realize awesome achievements.

As we prepare to experience the Purim festival, let us take a few moments to contemplate its true significance so that we can appreciate and savor the magnitude of this special day.

Rabbi Kenigsberg is an educator who lives in Elizabeth. He has worked in Jewish education for 25 years, serving in various capacities, from teacher to principal.