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PURIM
THE STORY OF PURIM
Blessed are you Hashem, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us
with your commandments, and commanded us concerning the reading of the
Megillah.
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Haolam Asher Kidshanu Bemitzvotav Vetzivanu Al Mikra Megillah.
King Achashverosh of Shushan, Persia, loved to give parties. He would
invite his male friends and his queen, Vashti, would invite her lady
friends. The parties of the king and queen were held in two different
rooms.
While the king was celebrating with his friends one day (and
everyone was very merry), King Achashverosh called Queen Vashti to
come and "show off" for his guests. Vashti was very insulted by his
order and refused to come. This made the king very angry and, upon
advice of his ministers, he decided to punish her.
"All the women of the kingdom will begin to disobey their husbands if you don't do something!" cried the ministers. So Achashverosh sent Queen Vashti away.
Soon he began to feel very lonely all by himself in the big palace and
decided to choose a new queen to keep him company.
The king sent out his ministers to gather all the beautiful young
maidens of his kingdom and bring them to his palace. He looked at
many, many girls trying to make up his mind. One of the girls who came
to the palace was named Esther.
She was a Jewish girl whose family came from Jerusalem. In fact,
Mordechai, her cousin, who had raised her after her parents died, was
a descendant of King Saul.
When King Achashverosh laid his eyes upon Esther, he knew that she was
'The One', for her beauty was far greater than any of the other maidens in the kingdom. King Achashverosh chose Esther to be his queen, not knowing that she was Jewish, Because Mordechai had instructed Esther not to tell anyone about her religion or her people.
Shortly after Esther became the queen, Mordechai began sitting at the
gate of the king's palace. One day Mordechai overheard two of the
king's important officials plotting to kill King Achashverosh.
Mordechai, alarmed by this evil plot, told Esther, who informed the
king about what Mordechai had heard. King Achashverosh was very
grateful and wrote down the good deed in his diary.
The next day Mordechai met Haman, the king's new Prime Minister. Haman had ordered everyone to bow down to him, but Mordechai refused.
"I am a Jew," he said, "and I will not bow down to Haman!"
After Haman's encounter with Mordechai, Haman was very angry. "What
can I do to get back at Mordechai?" he pondered. Haman recalled that
his family had been fighting with the Jewish people all the way back
to the days of King Saul, and even further, and so he decided what to
do.
"I will kill Mordechai and all the Jews!" Haman declared.
Haman was very pleased with himself as he went to get the king's
permission to carry out his plan. The king was very happy to be able
to help his new Prime Minister, and was glad to give his permission.
Meanwhile Mordechai soon heard of Haman's plot to kill all the Jews of Persia. He also heard that Haman had received the King's permission to do this. Mordechai ran to the palace to warn his beloved Esther of the evil plot.
He cried out to her, "Oh Esther, because I would not bow down to
Haman, he plans to kill all the Jews of Persia!"
He warned her that she must help her people because she herself would
not he able to escape the evil being planned against the Jews.
"I will go to the king," she decided, "no matter what the risk!"
Esther approached the king's chamber and knocked softly.
"Who is there?" bellowed the king. "I am not to be disturbed!"
"It is I, Queen Esther," the queen answered meekly.
"What do you want?" The King asked sternly.
"I have something very important to ask you," she stammered.
King Achashverosh, seeing how frightened she was, immediately became very kind and held out his golden sceptre to Esther, a sign that she was permitted to enter the royal chamber.
So Esther tiptoed inside and pronounced, "Oh King Achashverosh, I would like to invite you and Haman, your Prime Minister, to come to a
banquet."
"Certainly my dear," replied the king, "We will be happy to come,"
The king was a little puzzled over Esther's simple request, but if
that was what his beloved queen wanted, well then, that was what he
would do. When Achashverosh and Haman arrived at the banquet, the king
asked Esther what he could do for her. "Please come to another feast
tomorrow," Esther asked.
Haman and Achashverosh were pleased and accepted the invitation. That
night King Achashverosh had difficulty sleeping. He tossed and turned
and tossed and turned until finally he called one of his servants to him, "Read to me from my diary," he ordered, "and maybe then I will be able to fall asleep."
The servant read about how Mordechai had saved the king's life and the king asked, "Did I do anything to reward this man?" "No,
your Majesty replied the servant."
Just then Haman entered the room. He was about to ask the king's
permission to hang Mordechai when the king asked, "Haman, how would
you reward a man who has done you a great service?"
Haman, thinking the king could be talking about him, replied, "I would
dress the man in the king's robes and put him on the king's finest
white horse. Then I would ask a prince of the kingdom to lead the man
through the streets of Shushan crying, "Behold this is the man whom
the kings wishes to honour!"
"Excellent idea, Haman!" cried the king, "That is what you shall do to
Mordechai, my trusted servant, who once saved my life."
"Curses!" thought Haman, "I've been foiled in my plan to hang Mordechai!"
The next night, Achashverosh and Haman gathered at Esther's banquet table.
After everyone had plenty to eat and drink, Esther stood up and cried,
"King Achashverosh, I called this feast tonight because it may be my
last in the Palace."
"What?" asked the king, confused.
"I am a Jewess," Esther continued, "and there is a man here tonight
who wishes to kill me and my people because we will not bow down to
him, and since we worship only our God, and have customs that are
different from those of the other people in Persia."
"Whoever this man is, he shall not get away with it!" cried the King, "Who is he?"
"It is Haman!" Esther cried, and pointed to the evil man.
The king's servants stopped Haman. "Haman, you and your sons will hang
for your evil plot!" proclaimed the king.
And so it was that the Jews of Persia were saved by Esther's courage.
Today we celebrate Purim with joy as we remember Esther and Mordechai.
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