Happy Purim
Guardian: Yesterday Jews across the world celebrated the festival of Purim, or Lots, which derives its name from the lots cast by the villain of a Biblical story, Haman, to determine the most propitious day for the extermination of the Jews of Persia, and which commemorates the events recounted in the Hebrew scriptural book of Esther.
The story is set in the magnificent court of King Ahazuerus in the town of Shushan, presumably an allusion to the ancient Persian city of Susa. The story opens with a banquet at which Queen Vashti refuses to dance for the royal guests, and as a result she disappears from the story and, following a national beauty contest, is replaced by a Jewish maiden, Esther, with the support of her cousin, Mordechai.
Haman, the prime minister, requires all persons to bow in his presence but Mordechai refuses and in revenge Haman prepares to slaughter all the Jews of the realm. Having selected the date by lot, it is only the king himself who can alter it, and, following a plea by his Queen Esther, the edict of extermination is annulled, Haman receives his comeuppance, and the Jews live happily ever after in Persia.
The main observance of Purim is the reading of the story of Esther, which is done in keeping with the ironic humour of the book itself. Worshippers attend synagogue in fancy dress and whenever the name of Haman is mentioned they stamp their feet and seek to drown out the villain's name with rattles.
Other practices of Purim include the sending of presents, the giving of gifts to the poor and the eating of hamantashen (Haman's ears), three cornered cakes traditionally filled with poppy seed, although jam, lemon curd, peanut butter and chocolate spread are not unknown. Unusually for Jews, whose alcohol intake is modest, rabbinic literature permits intoxication on this day.
Only a week prior to Purim, Iranians were selecting politicians for their 290-seat parliament. Although most of the seats were contested, some 1,700 reformist and liberal candidates were disqualified from standing by the Islamic clerics of the guardian council.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, is the former mayor of Tehran and has become a figure of fun because of his provocative rhetoric. But he is also a cause of fear since his notorious speech of 2005 in which he quoted the late Ayatollah Khomeini's statement that "the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time".
Jews have lived in Persia for over two and a half thousand years, and in medieval times it was a centre of the Jewish Karaite sect. In 1948 the Jewish population of Iran was estimated at some 100,000, although 50% have since emigrated to Israel.
Modern scholarship considers the book of Esther as primarily a fable. It is not possible to identify King Ahazuerus, and there is no historical corroboration of a Jewish queen of Persia. Nevertheless, the history of the Jewish people, including the Nazi attempt to make Europe free of Jews, is evoked when Jews read the fable of Queen Esther. The heritage of persecution weighs heavily in the memory of Jews, and perhaps the levity of Purim is the acceptable way to recall a tragic history and to hope there will be no repetition.
That the president of any country should hope for the destruction of Israel is a timely reminder that, despite its military might, the existence of one place on earth that Jews can call their own is not to be taken for granted. That the threat should come from the Iranian president is indeed an irony when the Purim legend is set in Persia (now Iran).
It is, of course, in the interests of the Jewish and Iranian people that the two countries settle their differences in a peaceful manner. The real fear that underlies the commemoration of Purim is not only a product of Jewish folklore but a genuine part of recent Jewish experience.
· Rabbi Danny Rich is chief executive of Liberal Judaism
The story is set in the magnificent court of King Ahazuerus in the town of Shushan, presumably an allusion to the ancient Persian city of Susa. The story opens with a banquet at which Queen Vashti refuses to dance for the royal guests, and as a result she disappears from the story and, following a national beauty contest, is replaced by a Jewish maiden, Esther, with the support of her cousin, Mordechai.
Haman, the prime minister, requires all persons to bow in his presence but Mordechai refuses and in revenge Haman prepares to slaughter all the Jews of the realm. Having selected the date by lot, it is only the king himself who can alter it, and, following a plea by his Queen Esther, the edict of extermination is annulled, Haman receives his comeuppance, and the Jews live happily ever after in Persia.
The main observance of Purim is the reading of the story of Esther, which is done in keeping with the ironic humour of the book itself. Worshippers attend synagogue in fancy dress and whenever the name of Haman is mentioned they stamp their feet and seek to drown out the villain's name with rattles.
Other practices of Purim include the sending of presents, the giving of gifts to the poor and the eating of hamantashen (Haman's ears), three cornered cakes traditionally filled with poppy seed, although jam, lemon curd, peanut butter and chocolate spread are not unknown. Unusually for Jews, whose alcohol intake is modest, rabbinic literature permits intoxication on this day.
Only a week prior to Purim, Iranians were selecting politicians for their 290-seat parliament. Although most of the seats were contested, some 1,700 reformist and liberal candidates were disqualified from standing by the Islamic clerics of the guardian council.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, is the former mayor of Tehran and has become a figure of fun because of his provocative rhetoric. But he is also a cause of fear since his notorious speech of 2005 in which he quoted the late Ayatollah Khomeini's statement that "the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time".
Jews have lived in Persia for over two and a half thousand years, and in medieval times it was a centre of the Jewish Karaite sect. In 1948 the Jewish population of Iran was estimated at some 100,000, although 50% have since emigrated to Israel.
Modern scholarship considers the book of Esther as primarily a fable. It is not possible to identify King Ahazuerus, and there is no historical corroboration of a Jewish queen of Persia. Nevertheless, the history of the Jewish people, including the Nazi attempt to make Europe free of Jews, is evoked when Jews read the fable of Queen Esther. The heritage of persecution weighs heavily in the memory of Jews, and perhaps the levity of Purim is the acceptable way to recall a tragic history and to hope there will be no repetition.
That the president of any country should hope for the destruction of Israel is a timely reminder that, despite its military might, the existence of one place on earth that Jews can call their own is not to be taken for granted. That the threat should come from the Iranian president is indeed an irony when the Purim legend is set in Persia (now Iran).
It is, of course, in the interests of the Jewish and Iranian people that the two countries settle their differences in a peaceful manner. The real fear that underlies the commemoration of Purim is not only a product of Jewish folklore but a genuine part of recent Jewish experience.
· Rabbi Danny Rich is chief executive of Liberal Judaism
photo: Ali majdfar: Iranian.com
ABF, for the promotion of human rights and democracy in Iran
1 comment:
...and the Jews lived happily ever after in Persia...
Now I realize what really happened to Cinderella after he married the prince and lived in his palace HAPPILY EVER AFTER! poor girl!
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