It’s well-known that the name of G-d does not appear in the Book of Esther. While read aloud during the celebration of Purim, Megillah Esther constantly shifts between the hidden and the revealed with plot twists so unexpected that there is only one explanation: It is the Creator working behind the scenes. His nation, the Jewish People, are tasked with revealing G-d’s HIDDEN presence in the world. Those who hate G-d are said to be driven by the spirit of Amalek who wants to blot out belief in G-d and the nation of Israel. With that in mind, here is a catalogue of the HIDDEN things in the Purim narrative....
Megillat Esther begins with a massive six month party to acknowledge the king’s power, the vastness of the Persian Empire and its enormous riches. Achashverosh, as the king is called in the Book of Esther, inherited most of that wealth from his predecessor, Cyrus (Koresh), who is said to have discovered the sunken treasure of Nebuchadnezzar HIDDEN in the depths of the Euphrates River.
King Achashverosh was celebrating because he believed that the 70 years of punishment prophesied for the Jews had passed and the Temple was still not rebuilt. But he had miscalculated. The 70 years was HIDDEN from him. He should have counted from the destruction of the Temple in 3338 on the Jewish Calendar.
When the intoxicated king, in a fit of rage, had his queen, Vashti, executed, his counselors advised him to select a new wife from the general populace. They organized a royal beauty pageant, inviting both willing and unwilling contestants to the palace. Among the latter was Esther, a member of Mordechai’s household, a prominent figure and member of the Jewish court known as the Sanhedrin.
Mordechai instructed Esther to keep her Jewish identity Hidden.
The prime minister, evil Haman warned the king that “ there is a certain People” that threaten the stability of the empire. His plot to annihilate the Jews was motivated by his hatred of Mordechai but he kept that HIDDEN from Achashverosh.
Mordechai gained favor with Achashverosh because he discovered a HIDDEN plot to assassinate the king. Mordechai was rewarded for this deed.
When Achashverosh asked Haman how the king should honor “the man in whom the king delighted,” Achashverosh kept the identity of the man HIDDEN until after Haman had finished advising the king on this matter. Mordechai was placed on a royal steed, dressed in regal finery and led through the streets of Shushan, just as Haman had suggested—thinking he would be the one honored in that fashion.
Esther invited Haman to a dinner party but kept her intentions HIDDEN from him.
Esther reveals that she is Jewish and that Haman’s decree would wipe out all the Jews in Persia. An enraged Achashverosh orders him to the gallows. Haman’s face is HIDDEN as he is led away.
At the request of Esther, Achashverosh allows the new prime minister Mordechai, to issue a proclamation that all the Jews in the Persian Empire are permitted to slay those seeking to kill them on the 13th and 14th of Adar. The Sages tell us that many of the Jews wore disguises so that their faces were HIDDEN during the attacks. Afterwards, Mordechai and Esther asked the Jews to annually recall the victory over their enemies and to celebrate by sending gifts to each other.
For over 3,000 years, the Persians have observed their New Year called Nowrooz. It lasts for 13 days and coincides with the Spring Equinox, usually March 20th. And Purim is celebrated during this time, as well. However, the Wednesday prior to Nowrooz, a holiday called Harshanbe Zuri (Scarlett Wednesday) is held and the people wear disguises, go door to door banging spoons on pans and offer gifts to one another. In Megillah Esther, Mordechai covers his head in ashes while walking the streets of Shushan bewailing the fate of the Jews. In the aforementioned Persian holiday, a figure called Haji Firuz dances through the streets, his face covered in soot!
Daniel the prophet who lived in the days of Persian rule is identified, in the Midrash, as the figure called Hatach in Megillah Esther. In the book of Daniel, he warned of, “those who seek to change the times and seasons.” History’s shifting calendars have led to confusion caused by the Greeks wanting to insure certain events in Persian Empire were HIDDEN, making it nearly impossible to locate the Purim story in Persian history. They conflated personal names with the royal titles and artificially expanded the number of kings who ruled Persia. The Greeks promoted this fabrication of history adding roughly 150 years to their annals. (See Sir Isaac Newton’s The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms)
Alexander Hool in his brilliant The Challenge of Jewish History identifies Cambyses as the Persian monarch we know as Achashverosh in Megillah Esther. Historians tell us that Cambyses was known as a drunk to the Persians (see Herodotus' Book Three) who was plagued with mental issues. According to linguist Isaac Mozeson, the name Achashverosh translates as “unthinking head”.
Persian Kings, beginning with Cyrus were given the title Artachshasthra, while the Greeks rendered it as Artaxerxes. The actual name of Achashverosh was Kambatua. The Greeks called him Cambyses. Herotodus tells us an important facts about Cambyses describing him as almost bi-polar. Cambyses may be the only ruler, from the Achaemenid dynasties who had his first queen put to death. He remarried a beautiful, educated woman known as Hatossa which sounds very much like Queen Esther's real name Hadassah.
The Jewish Sages tell us that the son of Esther/Hadassah is known to us today as Darius the Great. On the famous Behistun Inscription, Darius the Great is credited for stopping an ongoing empire-wide revolt that began before his reign. That revolt began on the 14th of Adar, the day Purim is celebrated.
A final word about Haman, the evil vizier from Megillah Esther. He was a direct descendant of Amalek whose worldview still runs amok in every Anti-Semite who wants to destroy the Jews and to keep the knowledge of G-d HIDDEN. Amalek wants the truth about Purim, Esther, Mordechai and every event in the history of the Jewish People HIDDEN. This is why the Jewish People are commanded by G-d to "blot out the memory of Amalek..." (Deut. 25:19). It is Midda K’negged Midda (measure for measure) punishment for Amalek's attempts to blot out the knowledge of G-d, to literally blot out the Jewish People and their historic exploits. Purim Sameach!
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