Purim and the Drunken Savagery of Cheering a Hanging
It was a celebration. The crowd swelled with Jew and gentile alike. Everyone had come to cheer the death of ten men who had plotted against the Jewish people. The King had granted the Jews an extra day to round up all their enemies which included all ten sons of the genocidal-hungry Haman.
As the crowd surged forward, booing and hissing, drunk on anticipation, a loud crack was heard. The hangman had pulled the lever and all ten figures dropped, wriggling and squirming on the end of the line. Everybody cheered. The party had begun and it was a time to celebrate an evil plot averted.
It’s a gruesome end for one of Judaism’s greatest enemies. Were all ten sons guilty? In the reading of the Megillah (Scroll of Esther), the fateful ten were only mentioned at the end. Their names read in a single breath as if to utter such evil were to bring a curse upon future generations.
Purim is by far the happiest celebration on the Jewish calendar. The ONLY holiday where you can legitimately get drunk while praising G-d. Every mention of the villain, Haman, is greeted with loud jeers, boos, and a cacophony of noise. Adults are expected to drink a toast to every mention of his name.
It’s such a happy occasion, sweet treats are handed out and fancy dress is prescribed for everybody. Color, noise, and costume. It doesn’t get better than this. There’s no sad ending. There are no Jews being punished. All the bad guys get slain and a woman is the star of the show.
Yet, there’s a sinister dark side to the story. The vindictive slaughter at the end. The massacre of all the Jewish enemies. The vengeful bloodletting of all of Haman’s children. Was that really necessary?
The Purim story begins with a beauty contest. King Ahasuerus of Persia went on a week-long bender. This was the elite follow-up after the celebratory 180-day party fest. Drunk on fine wine and food, the sloppy king began to boast about having the finest harem in the land. To prove his point, he ordered his wife Vashti to be displayed before the googling men. A trophy to be admired.
You can already see how this pig of a man behaved. Vashti refused to be paraded in front of the drunken guests. Pissed, the mighty king swiftly ordered her execution, making him instantly regret his decision once her head rolled.
A sober king was now a lonely king.
You can see how this story is very problematic in a modern light.
A beauty pageant was organized and the hottest women throughout the lands were forcibly removed from their homes and displayed in front of the king. This included orphan girl Esther, cousin to Mordechai who had raised her as his own daughter.
Esther wins. Hides her Jewish identity and becomes anointed as the new Queen. Mordechai meanwhile foils an assassination plot and soon becomes the king's most trusted advisor.
Enter Haman, a notorious Jew-hater from a notorious Jew-hating nation, Amalek. Nothing like slandering an entire population with an antisemitic slur. The Amaleks were the first to attack the Jews after they fled Egypt. A lifelong enemy. Back in biblical times, it was customary to spit on the graves of the Amalekites.
Haman hated Jews. Voted in high school as the most likely to commit genocide against the Jews, he was now the Prime Minister. Haman hung an idol around his neck and was delighted when the king issued the decree that everybody needed to bow before Haman. To bow before an idol is a big no-no in Judaism.
Mordechai refuses. Haman gets mad. A plot thickens as the pompous king tells Haman to do whatever he liked to the Jews. So he does. A special day of extermination is ordered. A day when all the townsfolk from across the lands can murder, pillage, rape, and do whatever they liked against the Jews. This day was a people’s day. A family day out full of activities like kicking a Jew, mugging old Zaydeh’s (Jewish grandmother), and stoning Jewish children.
Haman still pissed with Mordechai not bowing gets goaded by his wife to build gallows. The expectation the King would grant Haman's request to hang Mordechai for disobedience.
As luck would have it, the King, bloated and sleeping poorly asks his courtiers to read from his chronicles. They mention the story of Mordechai saving his life on two occasions and never being rewarded.
The next day, gallows prepared, Haman gets summoned to appear in front of the King. Expecting a reward, he couldn’t stop grinning as the King asked:
“My Haman, in your estimation, what shall be done to a person whom the king wishes to honor?”
Haman, who was certain that the king wished to honor him, responded: “Bring royal garment and a royal horse. And let one of the king’s nobles dress the man and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘So is done for the man whom the king wishes to honor!’ ”
“Great idea,” Ahasuerus responded. “Now go get the garments and the horse and do so for Mordechai the Jew!” Source Chabad.org
It didn’t get much better for Haman. Esther mentions she’s Jewish. The King gets angry and orders Haman to be hung for tricking him into a decree that effectively slaughtered his wife and her whole family. He then punishes him further by handing Haman’s estate over to Esther.
The Jews are allowed to defend themselves on the fateful day of persecution. A decree is a decree until a counter-decree is issued!
Everyone celebrates and the evil guys are hung.
Who doesn’t love a happy ending?
Purim is every adult's favorite Jewish holiday. Forget about Chanukah and the miracle of lights. Who needs the solemn spanking of Pesach? Or the religious pomposity of fasting on Yom Kippur? For me, it’s all about the wine and costumes. A riotous noise of hollering. Evil gets its comeuppance and the Jews go on a massive binge destroying all their enemies.
It’s probably best not to dwell on the morality of it all. Let’s give the Jews at least one holiday they can celebrate their strength in outwitting an evil plot.
CHAG PURIM SAMEACH — חג פורים שמח
