Purim is the story of how Queen Esther of the ancient Persian Empire saved the Jewish people through fasting, prayer, and dinner with the King, after second-in-command Haman petitioned King Ahasuerus to have the Jewish people completely eliminated. 

But what made Haman think he would be successful in this venture? History had already shown that Jewish people always survived. Even attacks by Haman’s ancestors had not proved successful. Why did Haman think he had the upper hand on the Jewish people this time?

Chapter 3, verse 8 of the Megillah (Story of Esther) gives some insight.

“Haman then said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people, scattered abroad and dispersed among the other people…”

“Scattered and dispersed.” The hebrew word for scattered is “pazar” and the hebrew word for dispersed is “porad”. Both of these words suggest that Jewish people were scattered, separated, or severed from a vast local Jewish community, living amongst other people in the 127 provinces of the Persian kingdom. But the wording suggests something else that Haman picked up on. Not only were the Jewish people physically scattered across a vast area, they were also severed in their collective unity with each other. The traditions that once so tightly bound the community were now influenced by other cultures.

Haman thought this was his way in to see his plot of destruction come to fruition. 

But Esther got word of Haman’s plan and instructed the Jews to 

“Go, gather together all the Jews who live in Shushan, and fast on my behalf…” (Esther 4:16)

“Gather together.” Esther too recognized what was first needed. Fasting was necessary for the strength she would need to approach the King- an act that could have led to her death. But the fasting would be fruitless without unity. Without the support of the Jewish people, approaching the King could have led to a very different ending. Thus her first instruction was to “gather together” - to be united. 

Through unity and fasting, the plot for the destruction of the Jewish people was revealed to the King. The King had Haman killed but the decree for destruction could not be overturned, thus a new decree was made - that the Jewish people could defend themselves. 

So on the decreed day of 13 Adar, the Jewish people prepared to defend themselves and “gathered together” - qahal. (Esther 9:2). Qahal means to assemble. The first time this Hebrew word was used in Torah was when the Jewish people had assembled at the base of Mt Sinai to receive the Torah. This was the ultimate sense of unity with each other and with Gd. 

Purim is not simply about the dramatic story about the salvation of the Jews from the evil decree of Haman. But it is about unity - the unity of Jewish community and the unity within ourselves to be empowered to face dangerous tasks.

If you would like to be a part of the unity found within the Jewish community, please contact us!

Who knows? Maybe it is you who was called “for such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14).