What’s the point of Purim?

What’s the point of Purim? Is it anything more than a Jewish carnival with dressing up, hamentaschen and alcohol for the adults? Despite being a minor festival and in the shadow of the more important celebrations like Yom Kippur or Sukkot, nonetheless there’s a really important message in Purim beyond the simple ‘They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat (and for once drink)?’

The story of Purim might look like a Jewish version of Cinderella, but where we are used to the villains being villainous and heroes heroic, in the Book of Esther everyone’s somewhat flawed. The king is grotesque, Mordechai treats Esther like a puppet, Esther has a very violent streak which comes out in the end of the story, and Haman’s original problem is that he wants praise for his hard work of running the empire. And into this mix is thrown antisemitism, fear, and what it means to live in a different cultural context. 

Purim sets the scene for reflecting on where we live, and how we live with others, but where Pesach asks us to free ourselves and leave everything behind, Purim is asking us to figure out how to deal with difficult circumstances right where we are. And Purim’s solution is to turn everything upside down, to make fun and bring sweetness and silliness into a bitter subject. Sometimes humour, dressing up and revelry are the best answers to a difficult time.