PURIM USED TO BE EASY Robert Lichtman
Two groups headed out on separate roads . One accompanied a coffin . The other escorted a bridal couple . They both reached the only intersection in town simultaneously . Who should go first ? The town leaders convened and agreed that sorrow should yield to joy ; the wedding party would proceed , and then the funeral entourage would go along its way . This is the quandary and its resolution as presented by the Talmud . 31 In 5785 the crossroad is called Purim , a holiday so quintessentially Jewish - emotionally , theologically , and in its straightforward effectiveness at conveying a significant strand of our story . Purim ’ s DNA is such a dense double-helix of Jewish history and destiny that our tradition teaches that after the arrival of Mashiach all Jewish holidays will disappear , except for Purim . 32
On the Shabbat before Purim the Jewish People gather to hear the only three Torah verses that are literally required reading ,
“ Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey , after you left Egypt – How , undeterred by fear of God , he surprised you on the march , when you were famished and weary , and cut down all those straggling at your rear . Therefore , when your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you , in the land that your God is giving you as a hereditary portion , you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven . Do not forget !” 33
31
Ketubot 17a
32
Midrash Mishlei 9:2 ; Yerushalmi Megillah 1:5 ; Maimonides Megillah v ’ Chanukah 2:18
33
Deuteronomy 25 : 17 – 19
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