What is Purim? The Holiday Based on the Story of Queen Esther

The book of Ester is ten chapters long and tells the full story. Let me briefly summarize what happened. 

King Xerxes threw a big party where he showed off his wealth for 187 days. On the last day, King Xerxes (who was happy on way too much wine) commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before all the men so they could gaze upon her beauty. When she refused to come (and who can blame her? I for one wouldn’t subject myself to a horde of drunken men intent on ogling me), the king was furious and banished her from his presence forever. Eventually, a young girl named Hadassah (also called Esther) wins the King’s heart and becomes the new Queen. But Esther had a secret. She hid her Jewish nationality.

Enter Mordecai, Queen Esther’s cousin, who had raised her as his own daughter after her parents died. While at the king’s gate, Mordecai overheard two men plotting to kill King Xerxes. He told Queen Esther, who told the king. The two men were discovered and killed, and the event was recorded in the king’s book of history. 

And now we meet our antagonist. Haman was promoted to the position of the most powerful official in the empire. He was second only to the king. Everyone bowed down to Haman when he passed them in the streets – everyone but Mordecai. Haman became enraged and when he learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided that getting revenge on Mordecai wasn’t enough. He wanted to destroy every single Jew in the empire. Lots (purim) were cast to determine when this destruction should take place. 

The evil Haman approached King Xerxes and convinced him to issue a decree that on a certain day all Jews must be killed, completely annihilating them from the empire. Terror swept through the Jewish people when they learned of the decree and Mordecai sent word to Queen Esther asking her for help. 

After much prayer Queen Esther risks her very life by going to King Xerxes without being invited. When he welcomes her and extends the gold scepter, she invites him and Haman to a banquet just for the two of them. At the banquet she invites them to another banquet the following night. Haman is thrilled, yet his mood is ruined when he sees Mordecai after the first banquet. He plots with his wife and friends and has a 75-foot sharpened pole set up in his courtyard. He was going to use it to impale Mordecai. 

But while Haman is plotting Mordecai’s demise, King Xerxes is having a bout of insomnia. He orders the book of history to be brought and read to him and learns of the plot against his life that was thwarted by Mordecai. When he found out nothing had ever been done to honor Mordecai, he makes Haman put one of the king’s robes on Mordecai, put him on a horse that the king had ridden, and lead him through the city square while shouting, “This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!” (Esther 6:11) Haman is completely humiliated. 

During the banquet that night Queen Esther reveals that she is Jewish and asks the king for her life and the life of her people. She revealed that it was all a plot by wicked Haman. Haman is terrified and begs Queen Esther for his life, falling on the queen’s couch where she is reclining. The king sees and is furious. When he learns of the sharpened pole that Haman made to kill Mordecai, he orders Haman to be impaled on it instead. 

King Xerxes learns of his queen’s relation to Mordecai and makes him second in command in place of Haman. But what now of the king’s irrevocable decree? Mordecai writes a new decree in the king’s name giving the Jewish people the right to unite and defend their lives. Suddenly the Jewish people are honored throughout the empire because of the king’s favor and their Jewish queen. Instead of being destroyed that day, the Jewish people defended their lives and killed their enemies. 

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