Yet  again the month of Adar is upon which  means that  the holiday  of Purim is not far   behind. I will be  reneging  on my duty as your rabbi  if I will not  recite for you this year’s  story of Purim , the greatest intrigue saga  that has ever told  by  humans, especially  the Jewish kind!  It took  place  in the 4th  century BCE, at least that’s  what the historians  say, go trust them…

Achashverosh,  King of Persia  ruled  over a huge  empire  which  included India  and parts of Africa.  Since  he  enjoyed  the attention he was getting he maintained  a very rigorous  royal obligation of partying  24/7. Of course  members of the media  would park  on his front  royal lawn  documenting  and  reporting  all the details of who was who  showing up for the on going celebrations.

All state matters  were left for the secretary  of state,  the big Honcho, the big egomaniac fellow  by the name of Haman. Haman  had aspirations! He had dreams, ambition,  hopes,  desires, a  purpose  in life! He was a self made, proud man.  The problem  was  he was a ruthless  evil man.  His agenda  was very clear. Unseat  Achasverosh  the King and become the King of Persia.

In order to achieve  his goal  he needed  to find a way  to gain  control of the military, both the army  and the navy. (Forget  the Air Force,  that  would not happen  for another 2500 years.)  What  he really needed  was a scapegoat  in order to  unite  the Persians  through common hatred, thus becoming  their leader. (Sound  familiar?)

One  day  as he was walking  in the streets of Shushan,  the capital of Persia,   to get something to eat at a local pub, he enjoyed watching everyone  bow down  to him. Yes, he was quite pleased with the law he enacted,  “On Your Knees” under the City of  Shushan  statues  and regulations.

Then it happened! Much  to his dismay,  a man  by the name of  Mordecai,  A Jew of course,  refused to bow down  to him!  While  being upset, a thought came to his evil mind,  “This is exactly what I was looking for” he said to himself. “This is the window of opportunity  I was praying  for to the gods of Persia , may they live a long life and  be blessed!  I will unite my fellow countryman in the hatred of the Jews, kill them all, become the undisputed leader of the people and  grab the kingdom  from this Idiot  Achashverosh!”

Meantime  King Achashverosh  had banished  his wife, Queen Vashti, out of  Persia!! Don’t ask. It was one of those stupid acts of his while being intoxicated.  Something about asking her to dance in front of his drunken  guests. She refused, he was insulted….. whatever.  Bottom line: He needed  a new queen.

So  there was a royal competition between  all the eligible  women of the kingdom who competed for the title. The king  was looking first and foremost for an intelligent, bright  well educated  woman (Yea, Sure…)

As  the story  goes,  Esther  the Jewess,   won  the competition  fair  and square  and became  the queen of Persia. The  irony  was that she was indeed  smart  and pretty(according to the Persian  TV channel one and two,  but  go believe  the media…  )

At that point  Haman had already  convinced  the king to let him organize  a full pogrom against the Jews and to command the army for this event. The plan was to first hang Mordecai the Jew in downtown Shushan, right  near the central horse station.  This was to get Mordecai back after Haman had to take him around on the King’s horse proclaiming “This is the man the king wishes to honor.!” It seems that Mordecai had uncovered a plot to kill the king and this was his reward. But of course  Mordecai did not really plan to be hanged. He  needed to put a stop  to this “Mishegaas”  being perpetrated  by Haman .

In a secret conference with Esther the queen,  who also happened to be his niece, he demanded  that due to this urgent matter, she swing into swift action.  The queen was actually afraid  to initiate contact with her husband  since an unsolicited initiative  could cause her own life.  But considering the urgency  of  the matter, after all, the life of many Jews was on the line. plus the  dirty politics of taking charge of the Army illegally  by that evil man,  Haman had to be stopped.

So  she agreed  to take  the challenge. After not eating  for three days  and going into prayers and seclusion, she was now  nice  and  trim. She could wear that dress which won her the queen competition. The rest is history.  She successfully invited the king and Haman to a party where she revealed to her husband  that she was in fact, Jewish  and that Haman wanted to kill all the Jews  including her.

Well, that was all the king needed to hear. He got so upset  that he could not bring himself to party  and drink for a week.  He immediately  order the execution of Haman,  ordered his army to not to hurt  the Jews  and promoted  Mordecai  to be his secretary of state, chief negotiator with Iran  on nuclear matters. And that is basically how the Jews were saved by Esther the Queen and Mordecai the secretary of state.

This is my story  and I am sticking by it.

The Hidden Stuff: So why even tell this story which we do year after year after year? Of course like everything in Judaism there are many reasons – oy that again!  But it seems that in addition to bringing Joy into our lives which comes with the holiday and actually the Hebrew month of Adar, Purim also has to do with revealing that which has been hidden.  The hidden plot to kill the king is revealed by Mordecai, Queen Ester’s hidden identity as  a Jewess is revealed, Haman’s hidden agenda is revealed with his plan to kill the Jews.

Purim asks us to look at that which is hidden deep within our own selves. The rabbis say that dressing up in costumes even allows us to experience our alter egos. Once the hidden is revealed we can identify our hidden aspirations and examine our lower natures.  We can then take action if needed  and indeed emerge triumphant!

So just in case you are wondering which costume I will be wearing this year for Purim….I have to look into my alter ego…

Happy Purim!