The Zionism of the Purim Story
The Book of Esther is one of the great mysteries of our
tradition.
Yet the book is hard to place in history. When and where did it occur? If Esther and
Mordechai lived at a time when return to Israel was possible, then what lesson
does it teach us about modern Zionism?
Here’s how we solve the mystery:
The Megillah’s only “historic” reference comes in Esther
2:5-6 – In the fortress Shushan lived a
Jew by the name of Mordecai, son of Jair son of Shimei son of Kish a Benjaminite
– who had been exiled from Jerusalem in the group that was carried into exile
along with King Jeconiah of Judah, which had been driven into exile by King Neuechadnezzar
of Babylon.
We know that the exile of Jeconiah of Judah happened around
597 BCE. But which person in the verse
here was exiled? Was it Mordechai
himself, so the Book of Esther was soon after? Or was it his great grandfather
Kish, meaning Mordechai lived closer to the year 500 BCE?
The ‘kingdom of Persia’ at the time was the Archaemid
Empire, which at its height ranged from modern Pakistan to the Crimea, Greece
and Egypt. We know that in 539 BCE Cyrus the Great conquered Babylonia and
permitted the Jews to return and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, but no
mention of that event is in the Book of Esther. Why?
In Esther 1:19, during the search for a new queen, we read If it please Your Majesty, let a royal edict
be issued by you, and let it be written into the laws of Persia and Media, so
that it cannot be abrogated, that Vashti shall never enter the presence of King
Achashverosh. Since Babylonia is not named, and Media is to its east, one
opinion would say that Esther had to live before Cyrus conquered Babylonia (539
BCE) and it was Mordechai himself who was exiled. Therefore, return to Israel
was not possible and they were trapped in exile. This opinion, however, is hard to accept.
The city of Shusha began as the regional capital of Elam,
which was also conquered by Cyrus the Great, in 539 BCE. It was hardly a “great city” at that time.
Yet it was expanded greatly by Cyrus’ son, Darius the Great (522-486 BCE), who
is known in our books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, Haggai and Zechariah. But none
of our other books mention a Jewish Queen at Darius’ side, nor a great leader
and advisor - Mordechai. Would they all
omit a known event of such importance? No. So, for “Shushan HaBira” to be the
“capital Shusha,” it would seem that Esther
and Mordecai would have lived later in Darius’ life.
The rabbinic tradition collapses ancient history into a
relatively brief period of time, placing Mordechai as a member of the Great
Assembly Ezra and Nehemia established under Cyrus and Darius. According to the Talmud, Bava Batra 15a, it
was “The Men of the Great Assembly” who wrote the book of Esther.
Yet many scholars identify Achashverosh as a Jewish name for
Darius’ successor, Xerxes I, which in turn places the whole story at the height
of the Achaemenid Empire. In fact, Xerxes I subdued a Babylonian rebellion in
482 BCE, after which he refused to be named as “King of Persia and Babylonia,”
but merely “King of Persia and Media.” The quote from Esther 1:19 suddenly
makes sense in this new context. His rule ended in 465 BCE, so we can date the
Book of Esther to somewhere between 482-465 BCE. And it must be Mordechai’s
Great-Grandfather Kish who was exiled from Jerusalem with king Jeconiah in 597
BCE. All of the pieces of the puzzle have now fallen in place.
So, Purim occurs 55-70 years after Cyrus the Great
permitted Jews to return to the land of Israel.
The second temple is built, and the return is possible. But no mention of that fact is made in the
Book of Esther. To me, this is the sad but important lesson of the book. Israel
was weak, and irrelevant to the lives of the Jews of the great empire. Israel
could not help, and was not involved in the threat posed by Haman. And a mass aliyah from Shushan and the empire
to Israel was clearly unthinkable. In
our day, we must ensure that no community is so abandoned again.
