Purim

There is one distinct tradition that states that Purim will still be observed after the messiah arrives.  While all other holidays will be erased and forgotten the one remaining holiday is one of the least important and most bizarre.  Imagine that; In the whole world there will be only one holiday remaining – one of hamentaschen, masks and Jim Beam.

How is it that the sages arrive at such a radical idea?  A hint comes from our holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur (whose actual full name is Yom ha-Kippurim). Translated from the original name, Yom ha-Kippurim literally means “the day that is like Yom [Ki]ppur” or “the Day that is like Purim.”  The day that is like Purim??  The fact is that we fast on one day and feast on the other.  We drink and raucously laugh on one while observing an austere day of atonement on the other.  These are not insignificant differences.

So, nu (“nu” is Yiddish for what does this mean)?  

Let me ask the question from a different perspective: How is Yom Kippur not like Purim?

A parable:

An air raid.  Sirens are shrieking.  People run panicked at the sound.  Haifa wakes up and scrambles out of bed.  In one apartment Mr. and Mrs. Lipshitz quickly dress and run to the air raid shelter.  Suddenly, Mrs. Lipshitz stops, and starts back to their home.

“Wait, Milton!” she shouts as she rushes into their bedroom.

Meanwhile her husband is aghast, “Are you nuts Sylvia?  This is a real air raid!”

“I cannot leave without my teeth,” says Mrs. Lipshitz.

“Your teeth??  What do you think the Arabs are going to drop on us?  Gefilte fish?”

 

Moral: Sometimes looking at an argument from a completely different point of view can bring about new understanding.

In case you did not like that one, here’s another possible moral: Never trust a smart-alecky husband.

Or how about this: Purim is just like Yom Kippur, upside down.

Alternative ending: She actually went back for the bonbons.

 

Have you ever noticed (for those of a “certain age”) that the Fuller Brush salesmen look remarkably like the used car salesmen we see today?  I have a theory that the Fuller Brush folks all went to SingSing after the company went bankrupt.  When used car dealerships discovered this untapped talent sitting in cells playing pinochle they retooled them to sell cars.

Thinking about odd behaviors, to those who would question the existence of a Creator, if there is no God why bother to shave?

While I am on the subject of paradoxes, did it ever occur to you that the story of Purim is confusing and extraordinarily difficult to understand?  It does not have a clear beginning, obvious moral or even mention God in the whole megillah!

The story cannot be understood even on the simplest level.  Think about Mordecai, an unemployed layabout who sits by the castle every day, doing what?  Perhaps he had a shoe shop set up near the gates of the city.  That would explain the name Shushan, wouldn’t it?  It’s an old Persian joke that they called the capital city after Mordecai’s shoe emporium.  Back then whenever people passed Mordecai’s place it was a real knee-slapper and folks fell about laughing.  In fact, the two ministerial servants, Bigtan and Teresh were not quislings of the king, they were Mordecai’s marketing firm.  

The chief executive of footwear was Vashti, of course.  She visited Shushan annually for their yearly shoe conventions (all wearing those funny fezzes with the tassels bobbing all around).

So, as we celebrate Yom Kippur, er hat was supposed to be Purim,  at the end of this month together, make sure to put your best foot forward, and don’t forget your dentures.