Purim and Assimilation Shiur Sources

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Purim and Assimilation Sources
By Rabbi Joel Levy
 

Source 1
בבלי מסכת מגילה דף ז/ב
אמר רבא
מיחייב איניש לבסומי בפוריא
עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן
לברוך מרדכי
רבה ורבי זירא עבדו סעודת
פורים בהדי הדדי איבסום קם
רבה שחטיה לרבי זירא
למחר בעי רחמי ואחייה
לשנה אמר ליה ניתי מר ונעביד
סעודת פורים בהדי הדדי
אמר ליה לא בכל שעתא ושעתא
מתרחיש ניסא
 

Bavli - Megillah 7b
Rava said:
It is a person’s duty to intoxicate themselves on Purim until they cannot tell the difference between “cursed be Haman” and “blessed be Mordecai” Rabbah and Rabbi Zera joined together in a Purim feast. They became drunk and Rabbah arose and cut Rabbi Zera's throat. On the next day he prayed on his behalf and revived him. Next year he said, Will your honor come and we will have the Purim feast together. He replied: A miracle does not take place on every occasion!

1. How drunk do you think you would need to be not to be able to tell thedifference between “cursed be Haman” and “blessed be Mordecai”?
2. The text involves a statement of a Halacha (law) followed by a piece ofAggadah (narrative/story). Why do you think the story is brought here? Shouldour reading of the story change the scope or power of the legal ruling? (This is an interesting example of the interdependence of law and narrative!)
 

Source 2
אסתר פרק ט
(א) וּבִשְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ הוּא חֹדֶשׁ
אֲדָר בִּשְׁלוֹשָׁה עָשָׂר יוֹם בּוֹ אֲשֶׁר
וְדָתוֹ לְהֵעָשֹוֹת 􀃍 הִגִּיעַ דְּבַר הַמֶּלֶ
בַּיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר שִׂבְּרוּ אֹיְבֵי הַיְּהוּדִים
הוּא אֲשֶׁר 􀃍 לִשְׁלוֹט בָּהֶם וְנַהֲפוֹ
יִשְׁלְטוּ הַיְּ הוּדִים הֵמָּה
בְּשׂנְאֵיהֶם:
 

Esther Chapter 9
1. And in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s command and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, instead it was over-turned such that the Jews had power over those who hated them.
 

1. Look for the words that appear both before and after the overturning. What is itthat was over-turned according to this verse?
2. In Hebrew a revolution is a מהפכה – a “mahpeichah” – would you describe what happened in the Purim story as a ?מהפכה
3. How do you feel about this over-turning? Does it make you feel happy?                                                               

Source 3
אסתר פרק ט
(כ) וַיִּכְתֹּב מָרְדֳּכַי אֶת הַדְּבָרִים
הָאֵלֶּה וַיִּשְׁלַח סְפָרִים אֶל כָּל
􀃍 הַיְּהוּדִים אֲשֶׁר בְּכָל מְדִינוֹת הַמֶּלֶ
אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ הַקְּרוֹבִים וְהָרְחוֹקִים:
(כא) לְקַיֵּם עֲלֵיהֶם לִהְיוֹת עֹשִׂים אֵת
יוֹם אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר לְחֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר וְאֵת
יוֹם חֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בּוֹ בְּכָל שָׁנָה וְשָׁנָה:
(כב) כַּיָּמִים אֲ שֶׁר נָחוּ בָהֶם
הַיְּהוּדִים מֵאוֹיְבֵיהֶם וְהַחֹדֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר
לָהֶם מִיָּגוֹן לְשִׂמְחָה וּמֵאֵבֶל 􀃍 נֶהְפַּ
לְיוֹם טוֹב לַעֲשֹוֹת אוֹתָם יְמֵי מִשְׁתֶּה
וְשִׂמְחָה וּמִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ
וּמַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְ יוֹנִים:
(כג) וְקִבֵּל הַיְּהוּדִים אֵת אֲשֶׁר הֵחֵלּוּ
לַעֲשֹוֹת וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר כָּתַב מָרְדֳּכַי
אֲלֵיהֶם:
 

Esther Chapter 9
20. And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21. To establish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, 22. Like the days when the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was overturned to them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.  23. And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them;                              

1. What else was over-turned apart from the political climate?
2. What sort of joy might you feel if you experienced this kind of radical reversal of fortune?
 

Source 4
בבלי ערכין דף י/ב
פורים דאיכא ניסא לימא
אמר רבי יצחק לפי שאין
אומרים שירה על נס
שבחוצה לארץ
מתקיף לה רב נחמן בר
יצחק והרי יציאת מצרים
דנס שבחוצה לארץ הוא
ואמרינן הלל
כדתניא עד שלא נכנסו
ישראל לארץ הוכשרו כל
הארצות לומר שירה
משנכנסו לארץ לא
הוכשרו כל ארצות לומר
שירה
רב נחמן אמר קרייתה זו
היא הלילא
רבא אמר בשלמא התם
הללו עבדי ה' ולא עבדי
פרעה הכא הללו עבדי ה'
ולא עבדי אחשורוש אכתי
עבדי אחשורוש אנן
 

Bavli - Arachin 10b
Then let it (Hallel) be said on Purim, on which, too, a miracle occurred! Said Rabbi Isaac: [It is not said] because no song [Hallel] is said for a miracle that occurred outside the [Holy] Land. To this Rav Nachman Bar Isaac objected: But there is the Exodus from Egypt, which constitutes a miracle that happened outside the Land, and yet we say Hallel! There it is due to the following braita: Before Israel entered the [Holy] Land, all the lands were considered fit for song to be said [if a miracle had occurred in their boundaries]; once Israel had entered the Land, no other countries were considered fit for song to be said. Rav Nachman said: The reading [of the Megillah] that is its [Purim's] Hallel. Rava said: It works well there (At Pesach): “Praise you servants of the Lord” (Ps. 113:1) but not servants of Pharaoh; but here “servants of the Lord”, not servants of Ahasuerus. Surely they are still servants of Ahasuerus!                                                                                                                           
 

1. Try to identify the different answers to the question why we do not say Hallel on Purim.
2. Which is the most convincing to you?
3. Which of the three have something to say about contemporary Jewish existence in the Diaspora?
 

Source 5
בבלי סנהדרין דף עד/ב
והא אסתר פרהסיא הואי
אמר אביי אסתר קרקע עולם
היתה
רבא אמר הנאת עצמן שאני
...
ואזדא רבא לטעמיה
דאמר רבא עובד כוכבים דאמר
ליה להאי ישראל קטול
אספסתא בשבתא ושדי לחיותא
ואי לא קטילנא לך ליקטיל ולא
לקטליה שדי לנהרא ליקטליה
ולא ליקטול
מאי טעמא
לעבורי מילתא קא בעי
 

Bavli - Sanhedrin 74b
But did not Esther transgress publicly? Abaye answered; Esther was merely natural soil. Rava said: When they [the persecutors] demand it for their personal pleasure it is different… This [answer] concurs with Rava's view
expressed elsewhere. For Rava said: If a Gentile said to a Jew, “Cut grass on the Sabbath for the cattle, and if not I will slay you” he must cut it rather than be killed (But if he said) “Cut it and throw it into the river” he should rather be slain than cut it. Why so? Because his intention is merely to force him to violate his religion. The text begins by suggesting that perhaps Esther should have died rather than submitting to Mordechai’s plan for her to marry the king: she was being forced by a non-Jew to transgress an element of Jewish Law publicly and in such cases we generally rule that a person should prefer martyrdom. The text offers two distinct explanations for Esther’s non-martyrdom in the name of Abaye and Rava. They are hard to make sense of so maybe Rashi’s explanations of their positions will help:

 Abaye – “Esther was merely natural soil” – Rashi – “She did not do anything – 

He (Ahasuerus) did things to her!”

 Rava – “When they [the persecutors] demand it for their personal pleasure it is different…” – Rashi – “If the Non-Jew does not intend to turn aside the Jew from his fear of God but rather he only seeks his own benefit then the case is different…”
 

Can you translate these two categories into terms that make sense for you?