|
And Mordecai
inscribed these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the
provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, to enjoin them to make the
fourteenth day of the month of Adar and the fifteenth day thereof, every
year, as the days when the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month
that was reversed for them from grief to joy and from mourning to a festive
day-to make them days of feasting and joy, and sending portions one to
another, and gifts to the poor. And the Jews took upon themselves what they
had commenced to do and what Mordecai had written to them. (Esther 9:20-23)
Then Moshe wrote this
Torah, and gave it to the priests, the descendants of Levi, who carried the
ark of the covenant of HASHEM, and to all the elders of Israel. Then, Moshe
commanded them, saying, “At the end of [every] seven years, at an appointed
time, in the Festival of Sukkos, [after] the year of release. When all
Israel comes to appear before HASHEM, your G-d, in the place He will
choose, you shall read this Torah before all Israel, in their ears.
Assemble the people: the men, the women, and the children, and your
stranger in your cities, in order that they hear, and in order that they
learn and fear HASHEM, your G-d, and they will observe to do all the words
of this Torah. (Devarim 31:9-12)
We might think that a
Prophet is needed only to foretell the future but it is becoming
increasingly clear that a Navi – a Prophet is necessary to tell us what
just happened. To understand history accurately and learn the correct
lesson we need people with prophetic stature. So much can become distorted
almost immediately and certainly over time without hearing the true story
from an utterly reliable source.
In a world where
historical revisionism rampant and where the victor writes their version of
events, how can we be certain that a given occurrence actually happened?
The Kuzari states a principle that it is possible for someone to convince
others and even masses that he experienced some advanced mystical state or
arrived on a magic carpet or whatever but he could never convince a group
of people that this is what they experienced when they really didn’t.
Otherwise, Moshe took a giant risk at the end 40 years in the dessert when
he declared the following:
“For ask now regarding
the early days that were before you, since the day that G-d created man
upon the earth, and from one end of the heavens to the other end of the
heavens, whether there was anything like this great thing, or was the likes
of it claimed? Did ever a people hear G-d’s voice speaking out of the midst
of the fire as you have heard, you, and you lived?” Moshe tells the Jewish
Nation assembled there – then and for all all-time that no one will ever
match or attempt this historical claim of a nation of 600,000 adult males
between the ages of 20 and 60 hearing The Almighty speak directly to them.
He emphasizes the word YOU. While some may claim magical powers but no one
can tell others that this is what they experienced, if it didn’t happen. No
such claim has been made since!
There is another type
of historical event that cannot be denied or disputed. Let us take for
example the Magna Carta in 1215 and the Declaration of Independence in
1776. In both situations there was a serious legal document that was
approved and signed by an assembly of representatives. That document was
transcribed and widely distributed to a mass of constituents whose daily
lives were seriously altered by the laws and commitments contained in that
document. After it was distributed and spread out, to alter one letter,
would require changing every extant copy of that document. That’s not
impossible!
So, it was with the
Megillah of Esther. The amazing happenings of Purim were written down
contemporaneously, at the time of the actual event and that Megillah was
spread out to the Jews all over the world. It describes and prescribes the
laws and behaviors for Jews for all time. And so, we adhere to these laws
and read that exact same scroll every year on Purim. The book and the
people are as two witnesses testifying about the veracity of those events
2,500 years ago.
The Torah too was
written and distributed and we keep its laws till this very day, and so
says the Navi, the Prophet Isaiah (43:12), “ATEM AIDAI NEUM HASHEM” – “You
are My witnesses, so says HASHEM.” By observing the laws in the Torah and
celebrating on Purim we are actually HASHEM’s living witnesses to His
Story.
|
|
Comments
Post a Comment