Purimfest Forever!

Purimfest Forever!

Purim is usually mentioned as a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, according to a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther.

The pivotal moment of that story, the previous decree against the Jews could not be annulled, so the King allows Mordecai and Esther to write another decree as they wish. They decree that Jews may preemptively kill those thought to pose a lethal risk. As a result, they kill Haman's ten sons in Shushan and 75,000 other people thought to be the enemies of Jews throughout the empire in one day. Another 300 were killed in Shushan the following day. And Mordecai assumes the position of second in rank to Ahasuerus, and institutes an annual commemoration of the delivery of the Jewish people from annihilation.

According to many historians, Persian King did have the right to annul his previous decree, though. In other words, the slaughter of the Jews had been averted already by hanging of Haman. There was no imminent danger to the lives of the Jews any more. They chose to use the King’s alleged inability to stop his own decree as an excuse for their own vengeance against Haman’s sons and tens of thousands of other innocent people, most probably including women and children of those who thought to be capable of standing against the Jews. It was a premeditated crime against humanity perpetrated by the Jews.

What had happened back then in Persia was also a crime of treason on the part of the Jews. They used the authority of the Persian King they became close to in order to begin a campaign against the political structure of Persia. During the reign of King Ahasuerus (519 BC - 465 BC) the Jews gained access to positions of power in the Achaemenid Empire and began to use it to their advantage, which amounted to nothing more than total corruption and moral degradation of the whole governing system of the empire. Soon after the Jews got to positions of authority and power within the Achaemenid Empire, it collapsed in 330 BC.

Within the old political system of the Persian Empire, the Jews had little and chance opportunity to enjoy any social and political upward mobility. It took a grand foreign invasion, led by Alexander III of Macedon, to place the Jewish people with real opportunities of long-term guaranties of legalized political authority within the new governance system. The path to future reforms and revolutions, which later on would be rocking the European continent for centuries to come, had been paved in Persia by the destruction of the Achaemenid Empire. 

The main reason that the Persian Empire ceased to exist were court intrigues, which ensued soon after the Jews became closely involved in high politics there. Darius III (336 BC - 330 BC), the last king of the Achaemenid Empire, was murdered by one of his own generals and Alexander III of Macedon ("the Great") claimed the Persian Empire. However, the fact that Alexander had to fight every inch of the way, taking every province by force, demonstrates the extraordinary solidarity on the part of the ordinary people of the Persian Empire. Despite the repeated court intrigues, it was certainly not in a state of decay.

Therefore, Purim is a very special holiday, but for reasons slightly different from those officially stated.  It celebrates not the end of the woes of the Jewish people within the Persian Empire, but the beginning of the woes of the Persian Empire itself. It is with the assumption of the position of second in rank to Ahasuerus by Mordecai that the Jews gained much-craved-for access to the King’s court political games and inner power struggle, which eventually would lead to the demise and destruction of the ancient governance system of Persia.