Dark Side of Purim

Posted by Ketzirah on Mar 22, 2005 in Holidays & Holy Days, Purim | Comments Off on Dark Side of Purim

Ask most Jews of almost any flavor what their favorite holiday is, and Purim will rank in the top 5! It’s fun. As a kid you get to dress up and yell, shout, and be rowdy in synogogue! What kid doesn’t like that.

There is a much darker side to Purim that we all seem to just ignore. Acknowledging it doesn’t have to take the fun out — but we should be honest about the whole story, not just the fun part.

Towards the end of the Book of Esther is the story of the massacre of Haman’s family and more than five-hundred others. What does this say about us? How on earth do we reconcile this with the message at Passover a month later? Why don’t we ever seem to remember this part of the story?

At Passover we are told NOT to revel in the destruction of our enemies, because they too are human beings and children of the Divine. Here at Purim, we seem to be rolling in blood without remorse. Is it a learning curve for us? At Purim we revel in the destruction of our enemies and then we are taught through our redemption from slavery that this is wrong?

Questions upon questions. I think what’s important is to ask the question. Don’t just read the text and say, “the end!” Read it. Talk about it. Interpret it. Learn. Grow. Change.

I am Becoming what I am Becoming. Ehyeh asher ehyeh. I will be what I will be. Eyeh asher eyeh.

Learn. Grow. Change. Become. Be.

Become what you will Become!

Related posts:

Purim! Poem for Adar & Purim: Light and Dark Purim: Enter the Trickster No Hammentashen Moan for the Mohn!