We Survived…Again...Let’s Eat!
Purim is an ancient Jewish celebration dedicated to the salvation of Persian Jews by Esther, the new queen of King Ahasuerus, who saved her people from slaughter by the King’s Prime Minister, Haman. (JewFaq.org, Purim) Esther, the cousin of Mordecai, who raised her as his own daughter, was a beautiful young Jewish woman living in Persia. (JewFaq.org, Purim) Many Jews in the period between the destruction of the first Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and the building of the second where assimilated into the Babylonian Empire after Jerusalem fell to the Persians. Haman, descendant of the tribe of Amalek, despised all Jews and especially Mordecai because he refused to bow down to or obey him. (Britannica.com, Purim) Haman convinces King Ahasuerus that the Jews are plotting against him and should be destroyed. "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm. Their laws are different from those of every other people's, and they do not observe the King's laws; therefore it is not befitting the King to tolerate them." (JewFaq.org, Esther 3:8) Ahasuerus cannot bring himself to make war on the Jews and leaves their fate in the hands of Haman. The evil Prime Minister plans the date for the slaughter of all Jews, the 13th day of Adar, by setting lots and building gallows for Mordecai. (Britannica.com, Purim) Mordecai learns of the plot and pleads with Esther to seek an audience with the King. (JewFaq.org, Purim) Esther goes to the king and requests a banquet in which Haman will attend; this is very dangerous because anyone in the Persian Empire can be killed for asking to go before the King without being summoned. (Britannica.com, Purim) Ahasuerus welcomes Esther and gives the queen his consent to carry out the meal. At the banquet, Esther reveals Haman’s plot to kill the Jews which upsets Ahasuerus so much he has to leave the room. (Britannica.com, Purim) When the King...