ויהי בימי אחשורוש הוא אחשורוש המלך מהדו ועד כוש שבע ועשרים ומאה מדינה
“And it was in the days of Achashveirosh: he is Achashveirosh who ruled from Hodu to Cush over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces.” (Esther 1:1)
As we read the Megillah, it is critical to bear in mind that no word is extra, no details superfluous. Each and every fact mentioned in the Megillah has been recorded there to enhance our appreciation of the miraculous salvation.
As an example, let’s analyse the very first pasuk in the Megillah:
Why does the Megillah provide the number of provinces over which Achashveirosh ruled? How does this seemingly trivial information enhance our understanding of the Purim story?
The Chasam Sofer writes that the Megillah is informing us that Achashveirosh was מלך בכפה, ruled over the entire world, and this reality served to save Klal Yisroel. Had he ruled over only one hundred and twenty-six kingdoms, he would not have ruled over the entire world and could then, heaven forbid, have successfully eradicated the entire Jewish citizenry of his kingdom. The Jews in the one medinah not under his control would survive, and the perpetuity of Klal Yisroel would issue from that province.
The Megillah therefore tells us, that he ruled over the world in its entirety, and there was no province over which he was not the sovereign. This effectively meant that it would have been impossible for him to have had all the Jews in his kingdom annihilated. For doing so would have left Klal Yisroel without any surviving remanet, and this was impossible, as we have a havtocha, a promise, that this could never happened.
The first pasuk is therefore critical to our understanding of the miracle of Purim. Achashveirosh ruled over every single province in the world, and as a result it would be impossible for Haman to accomplish what he set out to do – to destroy all the Jews in Achashveirosh’s kingdom. Klal Yisroel’s survival, therefore, was contingent on the fact that Achashveirosh ruled over the entire world.
Ignoring the Messages
Rashi comments: הוא ברשעו מתחלתו ועד סופו – “He [remained] in his evil ways from the beginning until the end”. Rashi reveals to us an allusion to the nature of Achashveirosh, one of the main characters in the Purim story. He teaches us that Achashveirosh was an evil person at the beginning of the story and remained evil till the very end. Two questions arise: Firstly, every detail in the Megillah teaches us a message that is connected to the theme of Purim – in what way is the fact that Achashveirosh remained evil relevant to the lessons of Purim? Secondly, why, of all the many reshoim who feature in the Tanach is Achashveirosh one of the only ones to be singled out for this particular criticism?
By answering the second question we can then understand the first as well. It seems that there are two very significant factors that can cause a wayward person to change his ways; the first is exposure to righteous people. The Torah instructs us to cleave to talmiday chachomim and Chazal speak at length of the importance of spending as much time as possible with great people because one can learn from their righteous behavior and see first-hand the results of living a spiritual life. A second possible catalyst for teshuva is the events surrounding us; when a person is involved in events that seem to be guided by the Divine Hand, he has the opportunity to respond to the Divine message and change his ways.
Achashveirosh merited both opportunities; He married the righteous Esther, whose greatness could not have been hidden from him despite her secretive nature. Moreover, his main advisor towards the end of his life was Mordechai HaTzadik, one of the greatest Sages of the time. Achashveirosh also had the good fortune to be one of the players in the remarkable Purim story - the account of how the very existence of the Jewish people was threatened, and yet everything was miraculously turned on its head.
It would be difficult to not be positively affected by such great people and by being part of such a miraculous story. Yet Achashveirosh remained the same, greedy, selfish person at the end of the story and indeed the end of his life. Proof to this is in one of the very last pasukim in the Megillah: “And King Achashveirosh placed a tax on the land and the islands.” The meforshim explain that when he married Esther he reduced the taxes on his Kingdom so that her home nation might reveal itself to him in order to benefit further from its new connection to the King. At the end of the story he knew her identity, therefore he raised the taxes again. This demonstrates that at the climax of the Purim story all Achashveirosh could think about was money. Another indication that he remained evil is that he never committed to rebuilding the second Beis HaMikdosh despite the great benefits he derived from Mordechai and Esther.
We can now understand the connection between Achashveirosh’s flaw and the Purim story. The lesson of Purim is to see the Divine Providence even in a time of hester panim [when Hashem’s Presence is hidden] and to increase our awareness of Hashem in our own lives. Yet it is insufficient if that newfound recognition remains in the realm of the mind and heart. It must bring about an enhancement in one’s avodas Hashem. The example of Achashveirosh teaches us how not to respond to Divine Providence – remaining oblivious to Hashem’s messages and engulfed in base lusts and desires. (R’ Yehonosan Gefen)
Why Do Sefardim Observe Purim?
The following is a thought from the Chida. The Chida writes in a number of places that the miracle of Purim took place in countries outside of Sefard. Sefardim lived in Spain from the time of the churban Bayis Rishon. The pasuk at the end of Ovadiah writes that the Anshei Yerusholayim were exiled to Sefard, to Spain. That is why Sefardim have a disproportionate number of Kohanim. This is because the Anshei Yerusholayim specifically which was disproportionally Kohanim was exiled to Sefard, to Spain.
During the time of the miracle of Purim, the Sefardim were not: מהדו עד כוש, they were not in the countries from India until Kush. Exactly where Kush is, it is basically Asia. The Sefardim were outside of this challenge. Therefore, the Sefardim were not really subject to the decree of Achashveirosh. The Chida writes this in a number of places (see for example: Lev Dovid, Perek 29; Nachal Eshkol on Megillah, and in Botei Nefesh, in one of his hagados on Tam Mah Hu Omeir).
The big question therefore is, why are they part of the observation of Purim, if it is an Ashkenazi miracle, why do Sefardim celebrate Purim?
The simple answer would be, that Klal Yisroel are one big nation, and if half the nation is happy, then the entire nation is happy, therefore, all Jews celebrate. However, the Chida answers something else, he answers with something which is really the message behind Purim. He says that the Yom Tov of Purim is not just to commemorate what once happened. The Yom Tov of Purim is because the ohr of Purim, the light of Purim, the influence of Purim, the impact of Purim, the spirituality of Purim is something that was put there by Mordechai and Esther in Shushan HaBirah and it remains that way from year to year. Every year that gilui ohr is nisgaleh [revealed] again and again. The Yom Tov of Purim is not to remember what happened. It is to tap into the tremendous kimu v’kiblu, the tremendous energy that was put into this day.
The Chida is referring to an Arizal. The Ramchal in Derech Hashem says this as well. As a matter of fact, in the fourth Volume of Derech Hashem, in the seventh perek, the Chida writes generally about all times that we observe things, and says: שבשוב תקופת הזמן ההוא – “Whenever a certain time period returns on the calendar, then: יאיר עלינו אור מעין האור שהאיר אז ותחודש בנו תולדת אותו התיקון – “It shines on us light which is similar to the first light”. That is in seventh perek. In the eight perek he says this specifically about Purim and Chanukah. The Yomim Tovim which are derabonon. We observe them because there is a certain light, a certain energy, a certain power that a person can tap into on Purim.
We say: שעשית לאבותינו בימים ההם בזמן הזה – “That he did for our forefathers on those days, at this time”. The nissim were done a long time ago, but: בזמן הזה – the zman [time] is still here, it is still that zman, it is still that magical time of Purim where a person can tap into it and use it. This ability to tap in is very special and we shouldn’t let it slip away. We shouldn’t just sleep away Purim. We shouldn’t be busy with mishloach manos all day, we must make sure to get a ruchniosdika feeling out of the day, we must make sure to get some spiritual elevation from the day of Purim. The sense of the kedusha of Purim, is a sense that a person must be able to pick up on.
The Chida explains: This is why they only established Purim the following year. They never established the original year as Purim, only when the next year came round, did they establish Purim. Chazal understood that that the ohr is incorporated into the day, it is in the guf hazman, and they established Purim forever.
The Gemara in Megillah (7a) says: בתחילה קבעוה בשושן ולבסוף בכל העולם כולו – “Originally they established Purim in Shushan, then they established it throughout the entire world”. Originally, they established Purim in Shushan, as a commemoration like birchas hagamel, to thank Hashem for the miracle, then, in the end, however, when they saw that Purim was a special time, they established Purim worldwide.
This is also peshat in: תשועתם היית לנצח ותקותם בכל דור ודור – “There salvation, You have been eternally, and their hope throughout generation after generation”. Purim happened many years ago, what does it have to do with all future generations? The answer is: The influence of Purim repeats itself on a yearly basis. We must make sure to tap into it.
So, although the yetzer horah will fight strong, and try and distract us, we must make the most of Purim, and make sure to tap into the special kedusha of the day, as much as possible. (R’ Yisroel Reisman)
