The Jewish holiday of Purim begins tonight: escaping destruction
Jewish holidays began at sundown and end at sundown, and Purim is no exception. This year it has special resonance:
It commemorates the (Divinely orchestrated) salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian empire from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.” Literally “lots” in ancient Persian, Purim was thus named since Haman had thrown lots to determine when he would carry out his diabolical scheme, as recorded in the Megillah (book of Esther).
It’s quite a story, which you can read at the link. It contains this extremely interesting part [emphasis mine]:
Haman was hanged, Mordechai was appointed prime minister in his stead, and a new decree was issued, granting the Jews the right to defend themselves against their enemies.
On the 13th of Adar, the Jews mobilized and killed many of their enemies.
There was no International Court of Justice back then, but Jews are still fighting to defend themselves and fighting for their right to do so.
Did this really happen?:
The historical reality of this biblical episode has often been questioned, and the actual origins of the Purim festival, which was already long established by the 2nd century CE, remain unknown.
But whether it happened in Persia at that time and in quite that way, many groups in many times and places have tried to eliminate the Jews. This has happened for millennia, in both the European arena and the Middle East. For the Ashkenazi Jews of Europe, the evidence is both genetic and historical.
Persia is of course modern-day Iran, which remains the source of a great deal of Jew-hatred and supports Islamic terrorist groups in many countries dedicated to killing Jews. But Jews in Persia have a long history:
The history of the Jews in Iran dates back to late biblical times (mid-1st millennium BCE). The biblical books of Chronicles, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, contain references to the life and experiences of Jews in Persia. In the book of Ezra, the Persian kings are credited with permitting and enabling the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple; its reconstruction was carried out “according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia” (Ezra 6:14). …
Jews who migrated to ancient Persia mostly lived in their own communities. The Persian Jewish communities include the ancient (and until the mid-20th century still-extant) communities not only of Iran, but also the Armenian, Georgian, Iraqi, Bukharan, and the Mountain Jewish communities.
Jews had been leaving Iran for a while even before the ayatollahs took over in 1979, but the pace accelerated after that:
According to the first national census taken in 1956, Jewish population in Iran stood at 65,232, but there is no reliable data about migrations in the first half of the 20th century. David Littman puts the total figure of emigrants to Israel in 1948–1978 at 70,000. …
While many Jews in Iran lived peacefully after the establishment of the State of Israel, the Iranian Revolution “radically altered the status of the country’s Jewish community”. In 1979, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini met with the Jewish community upon his return from exile in Paris and issued a fatwa decreeing that the Jews were to be protected. Nevertheless, emigration continued. At the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, 60,000 Jews lived in Iran. However, about 30,000 Jews left within several months of the revolution.
When Shah Reza Pahlavi was overthrown and the new Islamic Regime under Ruhollah Khomeini was brought into power, the Jewish population in Iran began to look for routes out of the country. Although, Ayatollah Khomeini had proclaimed that the rights of Jews were to be protected, the new government would not issue Iranian Jews passports and barred them from leaving the country. The Jewish population began to fear for their lives because many Jewish leaders were killed in the revolution because of their support for Zionism and their disapproval of Jews being considered as second class citizens. Thousands of Iranian Jews began to look for ways in which they could smuggle themselves and their families out of the country. Most Iranian Jews had to leave their homes and possessions in order to leave Iran illegally as selling all of their possessions would alert to the authorities that they were trying to leave the country. Leaving the country was very dangerous as many of the roads out were being watched by the government and, if caught, one could face imprisonment or death.
According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Jewish flight from Iran began in earnest after the May 1979 execution of Habib Elghanian, a philanthropist and leader in Iran’s Jewish community, on false charges of spying for America and Israel. The execution of Albert Danialpour case on 5 June 1980, further encouraged emigration. According to activist Frank Nikbakht, Jews sought to escape the country’s strict sharia laws, which were designed to humiliate and disadvantage the Jewish population.
It’s estimated that in Los Angeles there are now about 100,000 Jews of Iranian descent.
But back to Purim. It has the interesting characteristic of being a holiday on which it is obligatory to become drunk. There has been a great deal of verbiage trying to explain this. Here’s one effort.
Happy Purim!
Do you follow Dr. Sheila Nazarian? Probably the most famous Iranian Jew in L.A. right now.
In Don Delillo’s novel “The Names” the main protagonist is an American living in Athens who is required by his job with an insurance company to travel extensively around the Middle East and southwestern Asia. When someone in his circle of American expat friends returns from a trip in the region he always asks him (or her), “Are they killing Americans?” in the country the returning traveler has visited. It becomes an obsession for him. Also he and his expat friends talk about what happens to Americans when “the men with the three-day beards” come for you.
That’s what came to mind when I saw that photo of the supposed perpetrators of the massacre.
Are there any contemporaneous soirces of when purim occurred in persian records
DeLillo’s “The Names”: haunting, enigmatic, utterly original — unforgettable.
Le Mot Juste,
Totally agree re “The Names.” Also: “spooky.” Other descriptive phrases that come to mind: existential dread, awe, deep mystery.
One reviewer described it thus: “DeLillo created a mystery he couldn’t solve.” I think that’s an accurate assessment.
It’s a masterpiece.
IO49:
Worthy additions! It was a peak of my 1980s fiction, along with “Blood Meridian” (talk about dread!) and “Perfume: The Story of A Murderer” (talk about originality!).
Boy, I’ve tried to read the “Book of Esther” several times. The exposition is a killer! But tonight I got through it. I recommend neo’s link for a summary:
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/645309/jewish/What-Is-Purim.htm#What
Morally t’s a tough book too. Haman is clearly the bad guy ordering the extermination of all the Jews. Mordecai mobilizes the Jews to repent. Esther persuades the King not to exterminate the Jews and hand over vengeance to the Jews.
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The other Jews who lived in the king’s provinces also assembled to defend their lives and rid themselves of their enemies. They slaughtered 75,000 of their opponents. But they took no plunder.
–Esther, 9:16
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I’m glad they took no plunder, a refrain in that chapter. But geez. 75,000 slaughtered plus another thousand or so too.
But the Jews would have been exterminated otherwise.
I don’t mean to project my values back in time. I’m glad the Jews survived. But is that the choice? For the Jews to survive they must kill all their implacable enemies?
It may be.
I am boggled.
Encountered linked in Armin Rosen’s profile of Tillman earlier today, Tillman’s essay “Purim & My Bangladeshi Friend” (2013): http://gadflyonline.com/home/index.php/purim-my-bangladeshi-friend/
The essay carries another — added, inescapable — resonance today.
Jewish tradition has it that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekite king Agag. King Saul had been ordered by God to utterly destroy the Amalekites (who had in a previous generation launched an unprovoked attack on the Jews). But Saul had mercy on Agag and did not kill him and his family. Samuel took care of killing Agag and dethroning Saul for his misplaced kindness, but Agag’s offspring evidently escaped, which led a few centuries later to Haman. Seems like a lesson for today when Israel is being pressured to be merciful to the Gazans.
Esther’s story has long been one of my favorites from the Jewish scriptures.
It’s deeper than the surface tale most of us know, and there are ark-loads of commentary on it.
Here is one of the observations of the Rabbi linked by Neo —
“In the Babylonian Talmud we find the following statement: Rava said, “One is obligated to drink on Purim until one doesn’t know the difference between ‘cursed be Haman’ and ‘blessed be Mordechai.’” … Is Rava really saying that we should drink to such a state of intoxication? Isn’t that dangerous?”
I am not a rabbi, nor do I play one on television, but perhaps there was some recognition that Purim commemorates a time when, after Haman’s death and Mordecai’s elevation in honor, it was (relatively) safe for Jews to get inebriated to insensibility.
As the saying goes: “They hated us; they tried to kill us; we won; let’s eat.”
https://religionnews.com/2022/10/03/they-hated-us-they-tried-to-kill-us-an-old-joke-becomes-a-yom-kippur-message/
And no Jewish holiday is complete without the Maccabeats.
An Encanto Purim – The Maccabeats (We Don’t Talk About Haman)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjmLkEcaUAA
The lyrics are included in the Youtube post.
They actually do a pretty good job of telling the story.
If you wondered what’s up with the dancers in the highly anachronistic tri-corner hats, it’s because of the traditional Purim pastry, hamantaschen, the story of which is linked to in Neo’s first link.
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/2872815/jewish/The-History-and-Meaning-of-Hamantaschen.htm
Le Mot Juste:
Upon reading “Blood Meridian” I was moved to write a letter to Cormac McCarthy telling him how great it was. To my surprise Cormac replied, sending me a letter in which he chatted about writing that novel, writing in general, and what he was at the time working on. (It was the Border Trilogy). A very gracious letter. I had the letter framed and it is now hanging on the wall above my writing desk.
huxley, so often we modern folks, either Jewish, Christian, or agnostic/atheist, fail to realize that life is not all rainbows, and that sometimes harsh times call for harsh measures. It was true in ancient and medieval times, and it’s still true, although we like to pretend otherwise.
Ok, just downloaded “The Names”. Getting on a plane this evening. I’ll start it then.
Today would be Palm Sunday–well, some still attend a Christian service of some kind–but most do not. I used to carry a little palm cross handmade for Palm Sunday service and given to everyone in church.
The women of great power in Seattle deliberately destroyed my church (Episcopal) and most other Protestant churches fell quickly after. The destruction of faith was begun by the Communists and carried out by the feminists. Now, many believe that this country is much better off with a system of ethics that both Jew and Christian once shared. We can see the MSM start to put out the sentences that read something like this: “Christianity caused so many problems in the US”. Just to make sure no one will vote for an ethical choice–only blindly follow the women of destruction.
I grieve for the loss of Protestant churches. Jews should too.
Amalek are the quintessential non-believers. These “Darwinian” nihilists dwelled in the desert and attacked the weak, imitating animals in nature.
When the whole world was awed by the Exodus – Amalek attacked Israel, in open challenge to belief in G-d.
Amalek are thus implacable enemies of Israel – the nation whose story proclaims G-d’s kingdom.
This is why Haman casts lots to pick a date – to assert that this world is random and without a plan or Guide.
This is also why the Book of Esther unfolds in a series of unpredictable coincidences – which to the believer are not coincidences but G-d’s hand… To underscore this choice of perspective – which each of us must make – this is the only book of the Jewish Bible in which the name of G-d does not appear. Coincidence or salvation?
This also explains the command to “get so drunk that you cannot distinguish between wicked Haman and righteous Mordecai” – because beyond the believer’s efforts, beyond human wisdom and strength, all is ultimately in G-d’s hands.
Well. I hope all Jewish observers of Purim had a delightful, inebriated evening.
Anne, I helped make palm crosses last week. They made a video of my fingers folding them, in case the skill is forgotten in the future. Anglican, not Episcopalian any more. There are parishes in the Seattle area.
is he an unbeliever or of the Old Gods, Baal or Moloch of Ashtarte
Just read the essay that sdferr posted at 1:48. It’s very interesting, and very well written, if you have 15 minutes or so.
Mike Plaiss:
Stick with it. On the surface it seems like a normal story, with nothing much happening. But it sneaks up on the reader. You need to stay alert, watch your 6. Suddenly it will have you, the thing from Nietzsche’s abyss. You’ll find that you have, without knowing it, strayed into a strange and dangerous realm, one like no other.
IO49:
‘I had the letter framed and it is now hanging on the wall above my writing desk.’
TRES cool. How shocked and delighted you must’ve been. Envy, c’est moi! I recall lending the novel to a close friend, who soon after returned it unfinished; too dark, too oppressive — too powerful. (I’ve experienced similar reactions from friends for another uncompromising work of art: Peter Matthiessen’s ‘Far Tortuga.’)
Le Mot Juste:
I was indeed shocked, in a very good way, and delighted beyond measure. Still am. In Blood Meridian Cormac did things with language and storytelling that I had never before encountered, and have not encountered since. I firmly assert that it is one of the greatest all-time English language literary works.
From time to time I come across articles about the possibility of making Blood Meridian into a movie. I sort of hope that never happens. It would take a genius of a director — and a genius of a very unique kind — to present the story cinamatically. It would take nerves of steel for the director and producers to make a film that’s faithful in every respect to the novel, to McCarthy’s vision. Billy Bob Thornton failed, albeit honorably, to do so with “All the Pretty Horses.” Likewise the Coen brothers with “No Country.” “The Counselor” and “Child of God” merit no comment.
perhaps the man behind American Son, about the bandit wars in texas, Phillip Meyer, although it could probably only be a limited series like AMC, it had piers brosnan as the patriarch of the series thats just spitballing here,
I haven’t seen the others, or read the novels, but I will defend No Country. I had read the book first and though I have some reservations about the film I think it was one of the most successful film adaptations of a novel that I’ve seen.
Some reservations are intrinsic to the problem of filming a novel. Others are somewhat subjective: I didn’t think the actor who played Chighur was as scary as he should have been. Etc.
The novel itself is a pretty rare achievement: very effective as a thriller while impressive in literary depth and quality.
I think they did a reasonable turn, they adapted true grit effectively, but there is something about the menace of chigurh, that can’t be conveyed ‘something wicked this way comes’ like the Stand’s Randall Flagg but real, McCarthy
‘s last two offerings are more esoteric in a way
huxley, so often we modern folks, either Jewish, Christian, or agnostic/atheist, fail to realize that life is not all rainbows, and that sometimes harsh times call for harsh measures. It was true in ancient and medieval times, and it’s still true, although we like to pretend otherwise.
Kate:
As I said in my comment: “I don’t mean to project my values back in time.”
But 75,000 is a lot of people even today. I’ve heard summaries of Esther in church, but not that 75,000 number. It must have been a horrific undertaking. I presume it included women and children.
I understand times were even more brutal then. I don’t question the likely necessity of the choice. I’m just devastated that that was the dilemma those Jews faced then … and still do.
The horror of being human.
One of the things the ancient Empires did was to disperse conquered people, to remove them from their ancestral land. Makes it easier to destroy old borders and build an empire.
Modern Multiculturalism ( and Anti Wester Civilization/ Anti white) and open borders is a modern version of it for globalist to build a new empire.
the world doesn’t want to recognize you needed savage
men like the protagonist here, to tame the frontier, as it was with the australian outback or the deserts of Israel,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Son_(Meyer_novel)
here’s a flavor of his thinking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR4q7XdaQZ0
certainly parts of texas as foreboding as the Nefud desert, crosses to get to Aqaba, the work of a madman, as the Hashemites remind him
Ben David, thank you for the insights you shared. I’ve studied the Megillah many times, but some of the ideas you presented were new to me and thought provoking.
I would love to read elaboration on your final paragraph – I didn’t fully understand the connection, and it sounds like there’s a satisfying idea in there struggling to get out. ?
I am going to a Purim Feast, and my hosts asked me to bring some words of Torah. I’ll use yours – thank you!
Happy Purim!
that is a fascinating way of looking at it, yes Mordecai must rely on his own strength,
“…because beyond the believer’s efforts, beyond human wisdom and strength, all is ultimately in G-d’s hands.”
So much for AA…
(In fact, I think that kind of reasoning—sorry, faith—pretty much blows all 12-step programs to smithereens…unless, perhaps, they reformat and present themselves as God’s helpmeets, etc., etc….)
well consider the purpose of the adversary,
https://thewildolive.org/1peter5_8-10-deal-with-roaring-lion/
it wasn’t that long ago, maybe two generations ago, that men and women knew this by heart,
we worshiped the Creator and acknowledged his works, not the converse, there were many times when the Arrogance of Man during the Flood, when the Tower of Babel was built,
(although it may not have happened exactly this way, according to archaelogy) the historical record is unclear,
Related…
“With Purim near, rioters threaten Jews in Teaneck, NJ: ‘You’re not safe here — or anywhere’”—
https://nypost.com/2024/03/22/opinion/with-purim-near-rioters-threaten-jews-in-teaneck-nj/
H/T Powerline blog.
these descriptions make it seem like the hills have eyes or some of of wes craven’s other torture porn,
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/394535.Blood_Meridian_or_the_Evening_Redness_in_the_West
A guilty pleasure of mine is tracking the collapse of Disney / LucasFilms into woke/broke. They’ve just released the trailer to their latest offering, “The Acolyte” TV series, which is a prequel to Star Wars. The trailer is getting ratioed (likes divided by dislikes) so badly, the trailer video no longer displays the number of dislikes.
–“The Acolyte | Official Trailer | Disney+”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtytYWhg2mc
It is an all-woman production. The creator/writer/director is Leslye Headland, (formerly Harvey Weinstein’s assistant) is a self-declared queer and wanted to make a show that would have made her feel better as a queer child. Her elevator pitch was “Frozen meets Kill Bill.” It’s about the deep love between two sisters (what??).
One must wonder what the Disney folks are thinking. It doesn’t seem to be about the bottom line. Disney is already blaming toxic male fans for the future box office disaster.
Barry Meislin – I see no contradiction between faith in G-d’s guidance of the world and 12 step work. On the contrary – the first challenge for many 12 steppers is to surrender attempts to control people and situations. These programs immediately introduces a Higher Power to which ultimate control is surrendered – even as they assert honest self knowledge and taking responsibilty for action.
” ‘Al Jazeera’ deletes fabrication of IDF rapes in Gaza hospital;
“The story, which went viral on Arabic social media, accused Israeli soldiers of raping Palestinian women during the IDF’s ongoing operation in Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.”—
https://www.jns.org/al-jazeera-deletes-fabrication-of-idf-rapes-in-gaza-hospital/
Guess they figured the “story” did sufficient damage and could be pulled…
Wonder if they expect any gratitude…
Re: 1 Peter 8-10 / Roaring lion
miguel cervatnes:
As it happens, there is a lion reference in Esther, at least in the Catholic Bible, which jumped out at me. I can’t find it in the King James.
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22 “Lord, do not relinquish your scepter to those who are nothing. Do not let our foes gloat over our ruin, but turn their own counsel against them and make an example of the one who began this against us.
23 Be mindful of us, Lord. Make yourself known in the time of our distress and give me courage, King of gods and Ruler of every power.
24 Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion, and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy, so that he and his co-conspirators may perish.
25 Save us by your power, and help me, who am alone and have no one but you, Lord.
–“Prayer of Esther” (Esther 4, Chapter C)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/esther/4
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I am a word guy and if I am ever on the spot before the Lion, I too pray for persuasive words.
In this case the Lion is the King of Persia, not the Devil. Keep in mind, though, that Esther is risking her life to bring this up before the King.
If anyone knows why this appears in a Catholic Bible, but not the KJV, I’d be curious to hear.
ChatGPT-4 to the rescue. Blame it on the Bossa Nova or the Council of Trent.
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The difference you’ve observed between the Catholic Bible and the King James Version (KJV) is due to the inclusion of the deuterocanonical books in the Catholic Bible, which are not present in the Protestant Bible, including the KJV.
The Book of Esther in the Catholic Bible includes additional sections that are not found in the Hebrew Masoretic Text, which is the basis for most Protestant versions of the Old Testament. These additional sections, known as the Additions to Esther, are part of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. The “Prayer of Esther” is one of these additions and is included in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles but not in the Protestant Bibles.
The Additions to Esther were written in Greek, and they include several prayers, a dream of Mordecai, and other expansions of the story. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) affirmed the inclusion of these deuterocanonical books in the Catholic canon, while the Protestant Reformation led to their exclusion from the Protestant canon. This is why the “Prayer of Esther” appears in the Catholic Bible but not in the King James Version.
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Chat is good when one is interested in the intersection of two issues. I could have gotten there with Google (and tried) but Chat was so much quicker.
Huxley, does your Esther prayer research leave you with the impression the Protestant’s rejection reflected honest differences of opinion about its religious validity or value, or more simply a case of Catholic Derangement Syndrome as the Reformation continued to gain steam?
R2L:
I’m out of my depth, but my impression is that Protestantism was, among other things, a rejection of Catholic elaboration and in some cases corruption of the base Christian message found in the New Testament.
So going back to the Hebrew Masoretic Text makes sense from that viewpoint.
I have no dog in this fight. I am not knowledgeable enough to have an opinion. Plus in many ways I feel both sides take themselves too seriously. I’d like to hear more about love and Jesus and less about how one is supposed to believe and worship.
I never heard of these interpolations in the Book of Esther. However the Talmudic legend describes Esther saying Psalm 22 when she enters the palace – due to the idols there she feels G-d’s presence desert her.
In that Psalm it first refers to enemies as dogs, then as lions. First she called Ahashuerus a dog, but then repented, and because he was a king after all, she called him a lion.
This may parallel the interpolations.
There are several instances where the Christian bible repeats legends or phrases that appear in Aramaic rabbinic-era texts later than the Jewish Bible canon.