Purim and Prophecy

 Prophecy, not fiction

•  6:6 "Haman said [asked] in his heart, 'Who would the King want to honor more than me?'"

Rabbi Eliezer * asks, "How could the authors of the Scroll of Esther * know this?"

Both Esther and Mordecai were authors of the Book of Esther.  Esther contributed what she knew, and Mordecai added what he knew.  Each reported what was commonly known in their circles.  Each also composed the verses of prophetic knowledge.  The Sages in Mordecai's circle put the final touches on the book and published it in the canon of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Collectively, these Sages, one hundred twenty strong, were called the Men of the Great Assembly.*  Rabbi Eliezer and the next Sages all lived about 500 years later, though.

•  2:15 "Esther graced everyone who saw her."

Rabbi Akiba * points out how this could not have been known without prophecy.

•  2:22 "The thing became known to Mordecai, and he told Esther."

Rabbi Meir * asks, "Who revealed this to him? Not only was Esther a prophet, but Mordecai was also."

•  9:16 "They didn't pillage."

Rabbi Yossi ben Dormaskeet * asks, "How did anyone know what Jews elsewhere were doing?"

This entire exposition comes from the Talmud Tractate Megillah 7a.  Each Sage says, "The Scroll of Esther was said with the holy spirit."  The 'holy spirit' is a form of prophecy, but inferior to the visions of previous prophets.  Each Sage follows this statement with evidence from a verse in the Book of Esther.

Consider, though, that each of these Sages was addressing the issue about 500 years after Esther and Mordecai composed their book.  Along with this, the Book of Esther had been accepted as part of the canon of the Hebrew Bible at about the same time.  An entire tractate of the Mishnah was in formation.  Although this discussion appears in the Talmud based on the finished tractate, the Sages who were speaking lived and taught during the first and second centuries ce.

It is telling that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Akiba, and Rabbi Me'ir – each successively a student of the previous generation – add to what their teachers taught.  Whatever Rabbi Me'ir knew about the Torah he learned from Rabbi Akiba who learned in turn from Rabbi Eliezer.

Surely, Rabbi Eliezer found the strongest proof-verse according to the methodology that he had learned.  Ironically, each successive Rabbi voiced a different proof-verse.  Despite this, I'm not willing to say that they followed anything but the methods that they had learned from their teachers.

If so, how and why did they find different sources for knowing that the Book of Esther was said with the holy spirit?

Actually, no single verse that they cited was an ideal proof-verse.  Rabbi Eliezer was satisfied with one proof-verse.  Rabbi Akiba seems to have preferred to add his verse.  It's not unlikely that he preferred his verse over Rabbi Eliezer's verse.  Nevertheless, Rabbi Akiba followed the same method for delving into Scriptural texts.

It seems to me that Rabbi Me'ir repeated the process and presented a third proof-verse.

From an ordinary perspective, a single event fails to set any precedent.  A second event may be a case of coincidence.  This third event is convincing.  Finally, Rabbi Yossi ben Dormaskeet seals the issue with a fourth event.

The first proof-verse of the set concerns Haman.  The second one – Esther.  The third concerns Mordecai.  The events of the Book of Esther revolve around each of these people.  The miracles of Purim came about primarily through Esther's blind willingness to believe that she was in a place to bring redemption and relief to the Jewish people.

Mordecai had adopted and raised Esther, his orphaned cousin.  Her behavior reflected her upraising and education.  This is especially remarkable since she was raised by a man but without a woman in her life.  Mordecai was also Esther's advocate among the Men of the Great Assembly.

Haman, as an enemy of Jews, set the scene for his own downfall.  A miracle here is that his entire household was eliminated (with King Ahasuerus's consent).

Rabbi Yossi ben Dormaskeet addresses the issue of obedience to King Ahasuerus.  He permitted Jews to take spoils when they killed their enemies – "The King permitted the Jews . . . to defend themselves . . . and to plunder their possessions" (8:11).  Despite this, the Jews were wary of Ahasuerus's true attitude.  Kings tend to believe that all the property in their kingdom belongs to them.

This also addresses the nature of King Ahasuerus.  His ambivalence to Jews remained the same from the opening words of the Book of Esther until the end.  Mordecai remained viceroy to the King.  Such a position was dangerous.  Such a position distracted him from sitting among the other Sages, studying the Torah and teaching it full time.  Mordecai's reasoning was that the King was still inclined to persecute Jews.  As an insider, Mordecai reasoned that he could be a good influence  (adapted from discourses by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, 1973, 1975).

Notes:

Scroll of Esther - All books of the Hebrew Bible had been written on parchment scrolls.  Today, we still write the Five Books of Moses as one parchment scroll.  Public readings from the Five Books – the Torah – are only read from a scroll.  The only other public reading from a scroll is the Book of Esther on the holiday of Purim.*  In common parlance, the Book of Esther is called the "Scroll of Esther."

the Men of the Great Assembly - "Moses received the Torah from Sinai and passed it on to Joshua; Joshua to the Elders; the Elders to the Prophets.  The Prophets passed it on to the Men of the Great Assembly" (Tractate Avot 1:1).  The earliest Elders were assembled by Moses to relieve him of the routine duties of being a judge.  Some of the Elders were also prophets, but their primary role was leadership in a time when "there was no king in Israel."

The Prophet Samuel tells us that he lived to anoint Saul – the first ruler of the Israelites.  Before Saul unraveled and fell on his sword, Samuel anointed David to become king.

Then the Prophet Nathan brought David through his tribulations in securing the throne.  Prophets arose during the era of kings.  Staying independent of politics, prophets tried to guide the kings of the divided kingdoms of Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

The kings of Israel were warned by prophets that the Assyrian Empire would defeat them and exile their entire population.  Prophets also warned the kings of Judah – the House of David – that Babylonians, successors to the Assyrians, would defeat the kingdom and exile the elite to Babylonia.  Prophets conveyed G-d's promise that the Exile would last seventy years, and then returnees would begin to revitalize an autonomous province around a rebuilt city of Jerusalem.

Ezra as prophet, priest, and leader assembled a Supreme Torah Court of seventy-one men as Moses had done.  The seventy-one were drawn from one hundred twenty Sages and Prophets. These one hundred twenty are the Men of the Great Assembly. Among them were prophets, but only the last of the prophets. The last prophets were Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Men with a spirit of prophecy, a lower level, were also among these one hundred twenty. Some were Daniel and Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah (Daniel's companions); also Nehemiah, Mordecai, and Governor Zerubbabel, a descendent of the Kings of Judah.

Ezra and the Men of the Great Assembly received the entire tradition of the Torah as passed down from Moses. Whether they were prophets or not, they were all Torah Sages. Ezra was head of the Court, and he also served as High Priest (Great Priest). The Persian Empire still ruled the Province of Judea.

Ezra's assembled Court included seventy-one men at any one session. It's not clear (at least to me) that all of the one hundred twenty, the pool for seating Ezra's Court were alive at the same time. It stands to reason that the pool diminished as the members reached the natural end of their lives. Ezra's Supreme Torah Court appointed Simon the Righteous, one of their members, to succeed them in transmitting the Torah.

Simon was from a priestly family and served as High Priest (Great Priest) after Ezra died. (He may also have served as High Priest during Ezra's last years.) Ezra died during the winter of 3448 a.m. (314-313 bce).

Alexander had been leading his army through the Persian Empire and conquered one province after another. At the same time, emboldened Samaritans threatened the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Simon the Righteous put on the clothes of the High Priest and marched northwest out from Jerusalem at night. Dignitaries from Jerusalem and young priests marched with Simon carrying torches.

Meanwhile, Alexander and his troops were marching along the international coastal highway southward toward Egypt to conquer it. A Samaritan delegation was negotiating with Alexander for Alexander to hand the Holy Temple over to the Samaritans. The torches were visible, and the Samaritans claimed that the Jews of Jerusalem were revolting against Alexander.

At first light, Simon and those with him reached Alexander who then dismounted from his chariot. Surprisingly, Alexander prostrated himself before Simon. Alexander explained that Simon the Righteous was appearing before him as an angel leading him into his battles.

As a gesture of submission, Simon promised Alexander that all the male priests who would be born that year would receive the name Alexander. Simon also promised that Jews would begin to date all documents as Year One of Alexander's Empire. The ongoing count was used in Jewish communities for centuries, beyond the close of the Talmud at the end of the sixth century.

This happened sixteen days after Ezra died. The Age of Prophecy then ended.

Rabban - The title 'Rabban' – our Master – was first reserved for Sages who were eminent but below the level of the Sages who had no title. Those without titles, like Hillel (the last few years of the 1st century bce through the first few years of the 1st century ce), were so great that no title did them justice. (Notice how the prophets, several centuries earlier, had no titles.)

In passing the Torah tradition from generation to generation, Gamliel, the grandson of the great Hillel, received the tradition from Hillel. Gamliel (died 50 ce) was the first to receive the title 'Rabban'. Gamliel was also called Gamliel the Elder, given that a number of Hillel's descendants had the same name.

Rabban Gamliel was the first Sage of a new period – the age of the Tannaim (Tanna, singular). These Sages organized the oral component of the Torah's tradition which would be published as the Mishnah around the year 200 ce.

Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai - (Johanan) The entire Torah tradition was passed on to the great Hillel. Hillel passed the tradition to his grandson Rabban Gamliel the Elder. From him the tradition was passed to Rabban Yochanan. His generation is considered the second generation of Tannas (an English language plural). After that, Eliezer is titled 'rabbi' but not 'rabban'. Rabban Yochanan's other four outstanding disciples are also titled 'rabbi'. Rabban Yochanan was the head of the Sanhedrin High Court Academy for a short time when it moved away from Jerusalem. He died five years after the destruction of the Temple.

Later, after Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai, the title 'Rabban' was reserved for the descendents of Hillel. Their prominence was as ethnarch (Nasi) representing the Jews of Judea before the Roman authorities. Sometimes, they were the wisest Sages of their times. Even so, the Torah's tradition was passed on by merit. Greatness together with the Torah's tradition returned to the House of Hillel six generations later. Rabbi Judah the Prince (Nasi), of the House of Hillel, united greatness with sagacity. He finished assembling rulings and teachings of the previous generations, organized them in a final form, and published them as the Mishnah.

Rabban Yochanan was a disciple of the famous Hillel and saw the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. When Romans had Jerusalem under siege, disciples smuggled Rabban Yochanan out of Jerusalem to start a Torah academy.

He and his students, like Rabbi Eliezer, belonged to the early generations who were beginning to organize the Oral Torah so that the collected rulings and teachings would be published as the Mishnah at the end of the second century.

Rabbi Eliezer - son of Hyrcanus. Also known as Rabbi Eliezer the Great. Rabbi Eliezer was the primary Sage of the third generation of Tannas. He was one of the five outstanding disciples of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai during the first century of the Common Era. See Mishnah Avot 2:9 about Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai's five disciples.

Rabbi Eliezer also lived through the destruction of the Holy Temple (69 ce).

Rabbi Akiba - was a disciple of Rabbi Eliezer, his colleague, as well as a disciple of Rabban Yochanan. Rabbi Akiba was one of the other four disciples of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai. Rabbi Akiba established a prominent academy. Many of his rulings appear in the Mishnah. Rabbi Akiba was the next Sage who received the entire Torah's tradition to pass it on. His generation comprises the fourth generation of Tannas.

Rabbi Akiba also organized some of the esoteric material of the Torah such as the Book of Formation.  This book was taught orally for generations until Rabbi Akiba's version became corrupted.  Today we have several printed versions.  It may be possible, though, that alternate versions are not distorted but come from other academies.

Rabbi Akiba was one of the four Sages who entered the Pardeis as accounted in the Talmud, Tractate Hagigah 14b.

Rabbi Me'ir - was among the next generation to pass on the Oral Torah.  He received the tradition from Rabbi Akiba and was the greatest Sage of his generation.  Rabbi Me'ir was one of many Sages in what is called the fifth generation of Tannas and the third generation since the destruction of the Holy Temple.

Rabbi Judah the Prince (Nasi) received the entire tradition from Rabbi Me'ir and all the Sages. He finished assembling and organizing the Oral Torah in a final form and published them as the Mishnah.

Some of the earlier Tannas organized their studies into compositions that would be published around the same time as the Mishnah.

Rabbi Yossi ben Dormaskeet - Rabbi Moses Maimonides explains that Rabbi Yossi's association with other Sages is that he taught a "homiletic exposition" in the Mishnah. According to Maimonides, he is one of thirty-seven such Sages (Maimonides' Introduction to his Commentary on the Mishnah).

Since one of his expositions has been recorded in the Mishnah, we know that he studied and taught during the second century ce or earlier. Otherwise, I haven't been able find more information about him. I suggest that he belonged to either the fifth or sixth (and last) generation of the Tannas. Accordingly, he might have been a contemporary of Rabbi Me'ir or a disciple.

I'm not aware of how many homilies Rabbi Yossi taught in the Mishnah except that this is not one of them. Having taught something in the Mishnah, though, does not preclude the possibility that one or more of his excluded homilies, such as this one, were remembered generations later. The method of the Talmud – formed during the years 200 through about 500 – draws from all earlier teachings of the Torah's Oral Tradition.