Before looking at these sources, we discussed how the end of the megillah related to Zachariah's original prediction. While Yirmiyahu predicted that the punishment of the Jews ended after the 70 year exile, Zachariah predicted that the punishment of the Jews took place during the 70 years of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. After this period of destruction, the Jewish people would be led into a time of peace and morality. They would return to Israel, rebuild the Beis Hamikdash, be led by a leader of peace and truth, worship G-d, and all in all just get back on the right track.
We saw that the reality was, unfortunately, quite far from Zachariah's prediction. Though it is believed that many Jews returned to Israel to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash, most either came back or remained in Persia. In Megillas Esther we see that the Jews were spread out among the Persian Empire. Mordechai become second-in-command to the king, one of the most powerful positions of the empire, and though he had the power to, he still did not lead the Jews back to Israel.
One of the sources we looked at came from The Dawn, written by Yoram Hazony. Hazony wrote his take on the Megillah shortly after the Holocaust, so his beliefs seem to reflect his feelings on how the Jews should have acted during that time. He believes that the Megillah is a guide for how to be successful in the Diaspora. A rise to power, political success, and military success is all required. We see in the Megillah that Mordechai and Esther both rose to high positions in the kingdom, Esther being the queen and Mordechai being the second-in-command, and they were able to take a stand to save their nation. Hazony's take on the absence of G-d is that even when He doesn't reveal Himself, we need to still believe in Him.
Another source we looked at came from Sanctuaries in Time, written by מכתב מאליהו, which looks at the chiastic structure of the Megillah and how this related to the theme of ונהפוך הוא. According to מכתב מאליהו, every event in the Megillah, when laid out in a chiastic structure, all seems to be coincidences. This shows us that G-d is controlling every little thing and everyday life events, not just large miracles.
The last source we looked at came from Akiva Tatz's Worldmask. He proposes that G-d is not mentioned in the Megillah because He was intentionally wearing a mask. However, just because He is hidden doesn't mean that He is not there. Our role is to uncover His disguise. Just like there are no coincidences in the Purim story, so too there are none today. The Megillah is teaching us that G-d is pulling the strings in our world, we just don't see it.
Thinking about coincidences in our world today, I thought of all the little superstitious and seemingly harmless things we do everyday. Everyone knows when the clock turns to 11:11 you make a wish. Why? All of a sudden, because all of the numbers on the clock are the same, maybe something we wish for will come true. Or any of the other ridiculous superstitions people think up. A black cat means bad luck while a four-leaf clover means good luck. We associate our experiences with random events or sequences to create an aspect of predictability. "Oh, I saw a black cat, that means bad luck is coming my way!" In this way, we are incorrectly associating events with random objects. We see these events as coincidences instead of believing that bad luck comes only when Hashem decides.
Really, if you think about, luck implies chance. We learned that Haman and Amalek relied on chance and random happenings instead of believing that something is controlling everything. So the next time you see a dark-colored cat, maybe understand that when you trip a few minutes later, it isn't just a coincidence or a superstition, but Hashem's hand in this world. In this way, we can find it easy to see Hashem in everyday experiences.
Do you believe in superstitions? If so, have they ever come true? Do you think about them differently now?
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First of all, Shani, I LOVE YOUR GIF (The Office for life). Second, I thought your blog was super interesting. There are definitely times when we see something, and look at it as a coinkidink, instead of really thinking that Hashem controls everything. I liked your idea of "creating predictability," especially when we want to perceive that we have power over a situation. But, everything comes from G-d, and that's an idea that the megillah is trying to convey.
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