Jewish Life Digital Edition February 2014 | Page 18

PURIM 5774

HIDE AND SEEK WITH G-D
PEELING BACK
THE CLOAK OF
COINCIDENCE TO SEE
G-D’S HIDDEN HAND
BY RABBI EMANUEL FELDMAN
WHO IS THE HERO OF THE PURIM STORY? IF YOU
answered, “Esther,” that is correct, but only
partially so. The real answer is that the hero of
the story is an abstraction: the elements of
hiddenness and concealment. The story of Purim is a tale that masks, obscures, and veils.
All this is contained in the very name “Esther”, which derives from the Hebrew root
that means “conceal”. The entire Purim story, in fact, is an exercise in concealment.
The Talmud (Hullin 139b) asks if Queen Esther is ever hinted at or alluded to in the Torah. The sages answer that she is hinted at in
the verse where G-d says, “I will surely hide
[My Face from them]” (Deut. 31:18). The Hebrew for “I will surely hide” is haster astir,
which contains the letters of the name “Esther”. G-d hiding His Face means, among other things, that G-d will conduct His guidance
of the Jewish people in a non-obvious, hidden
way. Israel will not be aware that G-d is directing things. In fact, to many it will seem that
G-d is not present at all in the affairs of man,
that He has abandoned us to our own devices.
When one reads the Purim story, the
hand of G-d is almost fully concealed. In
fact, G-d’s name is never mentioned in the
Megillat Esther. On the surface, one might
think He is not involved at all. Things just
seem to happen. The very name of the festival, Purim, means “casting of lots”, again
pointing to the haphazard nature of events.
Coincidences just seem to take place.
Queen Vashti just happens to refuse to appear at the royal banquet, engendering the
search for a new queen. Esther just happens

14 JEWISH LIFE

ISSUE 70

ARTWORK BY SHOSHANA CENTNER
to be chosen as the new queen. Mordechai
just happens to be at the palace gate to
overhear the plots against the king’s life.
The king just happens to have a sleepless
night and turns to the royal chronicles
which recall that Mordechai saved his life.
On the surface, these are coincidences,
but they only mask the Divine Hand that
guides events.
One of the reasons we do not see Divine
intervention in this narrative is due to the
great amount of time that is covered by the
story. It spans a nine-year period.
Esther herself is the very epitome of hiddenness, silence, reticence. The text mentions twice that “Esther did not reveal her
origins” (2:10, and 2:19). Everything that
takes place is under wraps, and yet all that
takes place is moving towards the dramatic
climax where Esther reveals who she really
is and thereby saves the Jewish people.
It is no wonder that masks are a signature
element of Purim. By wearing masks we are,
without realising it, imitating the G-d Who
also masks His action and hides His Presence.
The hiddenness of G-d, of course, is not
new. Long before Esther, Moses asks G-d to

reveal His ways to him, and G-d replies, “My
face shall not be seen.” Hiddenness is a necessary ingredient of G-dliness. Mystery, concealment, and incomprehensibility are intrinsic parts of G-d’s makeup. The Kotzker Rebbe
said, “I would not want to worship a G-d
whose every action I could understand.” And
as Isaiah said much earlier, “My thoughts are
not your thoughts….” (Isaiah 55:8). How can
we fully comprehend Him? The mortal cannot completely understand the immortal.
The finite cannot entirely grasp the Infinite.
The Purim miracle is the paradigm of the
Hidden Miracle, in contrast to the obvious
open miracles such as a small vial of oil
burning for eight days on Chanukah, or the
splitting of the Red Sea.
In consonance with this theme of hiding,
note that the Zodiac sign for this month of
Adar is Pisces, the Fish. One of the chief
characteristics of fish is that they are unseen,
concealed, hidden, covered over by water. The
very symbol for this month is a signal of the
hiddenness of this month’s Purim.
G-d may be hiding, but He wants us to
seek him out. An old Jewish story tells of
the child pl ^Z[