19.03.2011 13.Adar ll, 5771
Judentum:
Looking to the Book of Jeremiah to find this elusive holiday’s significance.
One of the strangest books of our Holy Scriptures is the Scroll (Megilla) of Esther, which seems antithetical to some of the major ideas and ideals of the other biblical writings.
First of all, the major “persona” in the Bible’s history of Israel is God Almighty, who directs all the significant events in Israel’s development from a commanding position. Indeed, there is barely a verse in any biblical book without one of the sacred Names of God – except for the Scroll of Esther, which doesn’t mention His name even once! Moreover, a major theme throughout the Tanach is the centrality of the Land of Israel – except for the Scroll of Esther, which takes place in the exile of Babylon-Persia and concludes with the miraculous survival of the Jews there, under the rule of Ahasuerus….