ֵבּ ינַיְ יהוּ ? הַכּ מָּ אְו לָ
וַּדּ ֲ ע ַ י י ל מְָס
מַ ר : ָא בָּ יֵיַא
ְמ עַ לּ וּ , ִנּ יסָּ א .
ינַיְ יהוֵּבּ
סָ מְְו
נְ עֲ לוּ תְִּנ
מִ סְ מַ ôְל
ןַנ
יסָּ א . ִנּ
אָב ִנּ יסָּ א .
מַ ר : ָא
אָב
בָּ יֵיַא
מַ ר : ָא
מַ ר : ָא
ןַנ
תְִּנ נְ ֲ ע ל וּ
איַמ
ןַנ
ןַנ
As Dr . Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg put it :
“ This is the essence of the hidden God — the One who is absent in moments of greatest need , in times when courage and confidence are required .” 24
While interpreters can alternatingly argue that the nonexistence of God in the text of the Megillah reveals either divine concealment or actual absence , Mordechai and Esther could not wait for a Hidden Hand to be revealed if their Jewish community was to survive . In other words , and to bring these thoughts into our modern context , there are significant lessons for a modern Jewish community experiencing widespread and increasing antisemitism to be derived from a text understood even by mystics as “ the end of miracles .”
As early as the days of the Talmud , the debate about reliance upon miracles can be found :
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ִאיתְּ מַ ר ,
ִכינַן
ִא י כָּ א
ַא
ַא ִכ י נ ַ ן
ָר ַא
ָר
נוֹעֲ לִ ין תְּ
נ וֹ ע ֲ לִ י ן תְּ
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[ Regarding those who entered the Temple courtyard to prepare the Passover sacrifice ,] Abaye said : We learned that the doors of the courtyard closed by themselves . Rava said : We learned that people would close the doors . What is difference between them ? Whether we rely on a miracle .
Abaye said : We learned that the doors closed by themselves ; as many people as entered , entered , and
24
“ Avivah Zornberg on Megillat Esther ,” from the transcript of a JInsider video ( Youtube , May 7 , 2009 )
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