Analysis
The Origins of Purim
What is the real origin of the festival of Purim? Many scholars believe that the biblical Book of Esther has no basis in historical fact. Indeed, the text starts out with the words, “And it was in the days of Achashverosh” implying that at the time of writing there was no reigning king by that name. Towards the end of the story, we see that the scribe is actually trying to give a reason for a festival that has already been established for generations by concluding, “and this is why these days were called Purim.” In other words, the festival called Purim has been around for a while, the author appears to be be saying, and now you know the story behind it.
Since we cannot be certain that the account given in the Megillah is the actual reason for this festival, we need to look for alternative theories. Here I will propose one possible explanation for the origins of this festival, that, while somewhat controversial and novel, may be nearer to the truth.
Before the Hebrew calendar was fixed according to established rules, dates on the Hebrew calendar were fluid. Each month the high court decided when the new month was to start, and each year the wise men, the “knowers of times,” had to decide whether to add an extra month to the year. According to the biblical instruction, the festival of Passover was to be held during “chodesh ha’aviv,” the month in which spring arrived. However, due to shifting seasons in relation to the lunar-based calendar, the court looked to prevailing weather conditions to determine whether spring would arrive in time for Passover. But sometimes weather conditions were unpredictable, and the month of Nissan would arrive and still the sages were unsure. They looked to the crops for blooming buds, but none were seen. It is quite likely, therefore, that on more than one occasion people would have completed their Passover preparations, the shopping, the slaughtering, and perhaps even some cooking – only to learn that the elders announced that, unfortunately, there was as yet no sign of a blooming bud. Passover is cancelled!
What then was to be done with all that food? People would take to the streets in song and dance, laughing and celebrating a mock festival. Some of the food was given to the poor, some was shared with neighbors and friends, and the rest was eaten in semi-festive meals. All in all, people took it in good humor and spirits were high. A bonus holiday! Perhaps some even considered it a joke of some sort, and they celebrated by acting silly and getting drunk on the wine that was prepared for the Seder. Eventually, due to it’s popularity, the festival became an annual celebration and was held even after the modern calendar was established, similar to the way the second days of Yom Tov were kept even when they were no longer relevant.
There are many similarities between Purim and Passover. Both are celebrated around the same time of the month, and both have some sort of fast day on the day before. (In the early days, many people may have already been fasting when it was announced that Pesach was cancelled.) Curiously, there remains a tradition that the climax of the Purim story actually happened on the eve of the Seder.
This explains why Purim is celebrated on the second Adar in leap years, because it was primarily a second-Adar celebration. It also explains why the main rituals of the day involve giving away food. The Book of Esther does not provide an adequate reason for this specific ritual and its relation to the festival.
Finally, we get to the etymology of the word “Purim.” The reason given in the Megillah for the name “Purim” is quite far-fetched. It is a reference to an insignificant detail of the story, the drawing of lots, and it’s referred to by a widely unknown term. So much so, that the writer of the Megillah assumed the readers would not be aware of this word, hence the inline translation: “Hipil pur, hu hagoral.” So this is unlikely to be the real reason it was called “Purim.”
But there is another meaning to the word, one that is more relevant . The root of the word Purim is the Hebrew word “hafarah,” which we might translate as disruption or annulment. The Hebrew words “yemei ha-Purim,” the days of Purim, translate directly to “the days of annulment.” Purim was called “the Annulment Festival” because that’s what it was: a cancelled Passover.
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According to the pdf referenced in the link below, a similar idea was proposed by the scholar Gillis Gerleman. http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/37349930/Accession-Days-and-Holidays-The-Origins-of-the-Jewish-Festival-of-Purim
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Awesome!
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Does it really matter where it came from.
Does it matter if its a mishmash of Halloween and St Patricks Day
Cant there just be a holiday where everyone gets dressed up, gives out candy and gets drunk.
Eat Drink and Be Merry
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interesting idea.
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Interesting idea. However, I thought it was quite ironic that you rejected the historicity of the book of Esther because of a lack of historical accuracy, but went on to suggest a new story without properly supporting its historical accuracy.
A few examples:
A) I don’t see how the verses in the book of Esther unequivocally suggest that the festival was already being observed at the time.
B) I think it’s worth noting that according to the talmud (Sanhedrin 12b) once the month of Nisan has been declared, the year can no longer be intercalated. Moreover, considering that Passover was a pilgrimage festival, I think it reasonable to assume that such a late intercalation of the year would be avoided, and thus, at any rate, quite rare.
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A) The verse: והימים האלה נזכרים ונעשים בכל דור ודור speaks of the festival already being celebrated for generations.
B) While it makes sense that by the time the Talmud was written such rules were already in place to ensure a more stable calendar, the Talmud does mention (Pesuchim 56a) that in earlier times it did happen that Nissan was converted to Adar II when it was already Nissan.
The fact that there was a pilgrimage would have given more reason to celebrate a festival anyway – to avoid disappointing the tourists.
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A) This verse is definitely more suggestive than the one you cited in the article. I should note, however, that in many translations this verse translates into something like “And that these days SHOULD be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim SHOULD not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.” See http://bible.cc/esther/9-28.htm
B) The Talmud clearly states though that this was one of the things he did to which the sages (of his time) did not agree with him.
C) Your last point does not counter the point that this would nevertheless probably be quite rare
The examples I gave were merely examples. I chose them because they immediately occurred to me, and found it easy to express them verbally. My general point though is that (to my understanding) the reason why scholars reject the historicity of the book of Esther is that it does not fit very well with other historical facts which we are more certain of. That being so, introducing an alternative story would only have any scholarly value if it fits well with other historical facts. My point is not that your story does not fit well with known historical facts, but only that you failed to prove that it does.
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I hope you agree that a wrongly translated verse does not prove anything. The end of this verse, and some of the other verses do speak of the future, but these words – in the original Hebrew – speaks of it already being a tradition, and the verse goes on to say that it will continue to be one for ever after.
By the time the Talmud was written, people no longer remembered basic facts about the second temple and it’s rituals, and these are often debated in the Talmud. The Talmud also pretends that Talmudic reform was around long before them (e.g. that it was given Moses). So when they talk about the opinion of Talmudists at the time of King Chezkeyahu, we must take it with a pinch of salt.
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Great idea!
If you look at the versus carefully there is no doubt that the words were edited, and the editors did a bad job.
על כן קראו לימים האלה פורים על שם הפור על כן על כל דברי האגרת הזאת ומה ראו על ככה ומה הגיע אליהם…
Can anyone explain the second על כן?
על כן what?
It seems like something was written there that did not fit with the agenda of the final editors (Ezra etc.) So that was deleted.
Simchas Purim!
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It is a rather interesting explanation , but it leaves a rather gaping hole, how the heck did the whole story come about? YOu think it was made up randomly?
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Velvel, why was Harry Potter or Hamlet written? Esther is a late addition to the biblical collection, and unlike other works has little political purpose.
It is fiction written by a blogger of yesteryear.
The question of how other sections of the bible came about is of course fascinating, because it is clear they are political works there to prop up one regime/clan or another at certain periods in history.
The megillah however, is written by a single author who makes it clear he writes long after the event. He begins the story by saying “once upon a time”, and ends off by saying “happily ever after” too.
It is a story containing preposterously exaggerated, larger than life and unrealistic characters, for comedic effect. It is simply literary entertainment.
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Jason I really hear you that the meggillah could be a literary work like all the others throughout history. I am still wondering when do you suppose that the sages presented the people with this story as a backdrop to the alreade existant quasi holiday , purim, and also why would the people accept a story , which is new , in other words which their parents or grandparents never told them?
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If you look at Ultra Orthodox Judaism today, people are still actively being encouraged to be creative about history. Take for example Chanukah, when everyone is invited to be as creative as possible in coming up with reasons why we celebrate eight days as opposed to seven. No one is bothered in the slightest if these are the actual reasons why the people who started Chanukah decided on eight days; reasons are not rewarded on their accuracy, but on their wit.
Whilst in our days ‘pilpul’ is in fashion and a good ‘vort’ may change the thoughts of Pharaoh or the actions of Moses, in those days storytelling was in fashion and the best stories were accepted and retold. This contrasting but analogous shift in fashion is evident from the Seder night. Whilst the ancients were up all night telling stories, we are up all night saying ‘vorts’.
וכל המרבה לספר הרי זה משובח
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Chanukah is indeed case in point as Richard suggests. Ask any child today why we celebrate chanukah and they will tell of lights that burned for eight days when in fact a witness account in 1 Maccabees knows nothing of that story.
To ask when “the sages presented the people with this story”, is a question to be answered in that form, if you stand and look at tradition with a traditional perspective.
In reality, we were not a single homogeneous group way back then. Josephus was a very very different Jew to what we envisage Jews were when thinking of them today. How aligned he was with the Pharisees is debatable, yet he was clearly an important Jew. He sees Pharisaism as a relatively new phenomena.
Earlier Samson intermarried yet was a Nazzir, what kind of a Jew was he?
It is possible that the script or the oral bedtime story was circulated increasingly amongst Jews and like so many other legends world over, the line between legend and fact disappeared.
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Richard, thanks for pointing out that rather intersting shgift, from storytelling , vatalkach. I think it stmes from the fact that orthodox Judaism is not really focusded on history. I mean it is said a million times , the torah is not a history book.
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Very interesting theory.
To the objections raised by anonymous on the 19th:
If the holidy originated in the Diaspora, your objections are blunted. They didn’t find out about Adar II until well into Nissan. So although the decision was made in Adar I, they did not find out about it till later. This answers your question about ‘aliya l’regal’ as well, as these folks living far away were not coming to Yerushalayim.
The question as to how this legend got ascribed to this ‘holiday’, is a very valid question and those on this blog should ponder it and post any good solutions that they come up with.
Thanks for this tasty nugget of ‘food for thought’.
J
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Just throwing in to the mix:
Ethiopean Jews, who until recent times followed Biblical Judaism as they were cut off from the rest of the Jewish world and did not know of the developments of the Rabbinic era, were also not familiar with the Book of Esther. As such they did not celebrate the holiday of Purim.
HOWEVER, Ta’anit Esther was observed… for three days, for everyone above the age of seven. As requested in the first set of dispatches.
Israeli Ethiopeans tell how their families viewed the Fast of Esther as a time of great sanctity, and that they observed it as a commemoration of the destruction of the Jewish people. Being so cut off and remote, they never got the second dispatch telling of the Jews’ victory, and for centuries believed they were the only surviving remnant.
Thus – your theory might be entertaining, but if the oral evidence of an entire community over hundreds of years is enough, there were real letters sent out. There was an actual fast, the events unfolded as narrated (more or less)… and in this case the absence of mainstream practise actually gives more credibliity to the written account.
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Fantastic addition to the fairytale. But if the second dispatch never arrived, the king’s orders have been carried out, and all the Ethiopian Jews have been exterminated! Thus the current Ethiopians (whose ancestors killed the Jews on Purim) are just faking it to get into Israel.
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Adam n Eve:
Can you please give us a source for your information about the Ethopian’s fasting? That is a very interesting tidbit.
J
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Richard: speak to any Ethiopean who was part of the original Ethiopean aliyah for confirmation. I’m not sure why they believe they were spared (perhaps they hid? Didn’t think to ask at the time I was speaking to someone recently), but whatever or however, because they never heard anything further they did for centuries believe that they were the sole surviving remnant of the Jews. Ethiopean Jewish history is fascinating… don’t be so dismissive. An entire sub-group of Jews who were never exposed to the Oral Law and commentaries that mainstream Judaism pretty much depends on… and yet who maintained their faith, albeit with some discrepancies (e.g. the women circumcised their sons).
Genetic and DNA analysis confirm that Ethiopean Jews carry “Jewish” DNA and that genetically at least they are pretty much the same as Shmulik and Yehuda.
PeaceJay: I will look up some references and post in the comments – no way to private msg from here.
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Ethiopia was one of the first countries to adopt Christianity as the Official state religion, so they can’t have been that remote. The New Testament surely reached them, with it’s mention of Jews and a Temple in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus.
Genetically, they are not really very Jewish at all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Jews#DNA_evidence
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Richard: re the genetics, I defer to you, and in future will remember to check my Wiki stats before commenting! I am obviously confusing my facts with another group I read about.
PeaceJay: Several years ago I attended a talk by a young Israeli Ethiopean who spoke about his and his family’s walk from Ethiopia to the Sudan and his participation in Operation Moses (he was about 10 at the time). He also spoke about Ethiopean customs and practises, and specifically mentioned their belief for many years that they were the “remnant”, hence the 3-day fast. I’m not sure when as a community they were enlightened, altough amongst the actual sources I have found, there is mention in some of a Book of Esther forming part of their texts. All sources confirm Purim is/was celebrated as a 3-day Fast, with none of the rejoicing or other customs that mark mainstream practise.
At any rate, here are some links. They are all pretty text-heavy but if you are interested in Beta Israel (the Ethiopean Jews) it is all quite fascinating reading:
http://iaej-english.org/about-the-community/culture-heritage/religious-life
http://www.jewishsouthjersey.org/getfile.asp?id=29803
http://www.nacoej.org/pdf/Curriculm/JewishLifeCyleEvents_Holidays.pdf
http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Ethiopian_Jews.htm
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An interesting Idea. However, the megillah does contain political language and terminology appropriate to the time of Purim instead of anachronisms that would have otherwise crept in. I have also seen an interesting analysis looking in depth at Achashveirosh/Xerxes and trying to connect it with concurrent events, doing so somewhat convincingly (i.e. suggesting Achashveirosh in his 12th year required money as he was returning from his failed war with Greece). Additionally, the septuagint also contains a book of Esther (although greatly expanded with midrash and other details) showing that it was an established book by the septuagint’s creation.
I would agree that the megillah wasn’t written right away, and it’s likely that it exaggerated some of the incident (as the biblical text always does, especially with numbers) but given some of the extraneous details, it could not have been written too far away from the original time period.
As for the Ethiopian issue, they most likely were converted relatively recent (500 years ago or so) but either the person who converted them died/left before their conversion was complete, or they could have had a movement where they were Christians who believed they were Jewish, but without any idea of how to go about being Jewish. Very few aspects of their life before coming to Israel would have been recognizably Jewish or even biblical.
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Thanks for the links re Ethiopeans
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>The root of the word Purim is the Hebrew word “hafarah,” which we might translate as disruption or annulment.
According to Rada”k, in Shrashim, the root word Pur, is in fact “bitul”, i.e. annulment. He realises that “Purim” is strangely similar, and he mentions Purim under the root Pur, i.e. annulment, although he defers readers to the Megillah for its translation.
I think your theory might actually be closer to the truth than we imagine. This is an absolutely astounding brainwave, and you should seek to publish this.
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>However, the megillah does contain political language and terminology appropriate to the time of Purim instead of anachronisms that would have otherwise crept in
You don’t get to discard hard earned scholarly consensus with a slight of hand just like that. The megilah is in fact inconsistent with what is known of the historical Persian court, according to those who are in a position to judge, although the author did do some background research.
I assume however that anachronisms mean little to you, and that you believe there were camels, Edomites and Philistines around Abraham’s time.
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>Very few aspects of their life before coming to Israel would have been recognizably Jewish or even biblical.
Not so, indeed. Not sure where / what your source is but it’s incorrect.
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This is an interesting idea, however, the dichotomy of Purim and ‘Purim d’mukafot’ – or Shushan Purim, seems to dispute it.
If Purim were simply a ‘cancelled’ Pesach, it ought to be celebrated FIRST in Jerusalem, the seat of the Sanhedrin, and SECOND in the outlying areas, where word of the ‘cancelled’ month would take a day to reach.
Instead, we find the outlying areas celebrating first, on the 14th of Adar, and the walled cities (principally Jerusalem) celebrating on the 15th. How do you answer that, other than with a glib ‘v’nahapoch hu?’
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Taking your assumption that ‘Shushan Purim’ wasn’t invented by the Talmud, the Jerusalemites could have been aware early enough of the new Adar so they had no cause for celebration. The distant Jews found out too late and were already prepared for a festival, so they started celebrating. By the time news got back to Jerusalem that their brethren were celebrating – and they wanted to celebrate with them – it was already too late to make a Purim on the 14th, so they celebrated a day later.
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Interesting theory.
Regarding mukofim, celebrations on the 14th of Nisan were held in Jerusalem only, while in the country, with no altar for the sacrificial lamb, Pesach began on the 15th. A cancelled Passover the should be held on the 15-16 of Nisan. Even if word of the cancellation arrived a day before, I suppose they’d wait out for intended night.
Kugel says that wherever Scripture explains a current phenomenon with a story and uses the phrase “al ken”, for instance the names of Edom and Be’er Sheba, it intends to refute a competing etymology. Esther lends legitimacy to Purim, according the your theory. It’s no longer an erroneous unfounded holiday, but one celebrated in good cause.
P.S. Working with dates given in Esther, the events of Purim fall on Pesach eve. It’s not a tradition, per se.
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“Taking your assumption that ‘Shushan Purim’ wasn’t invented by the Talmud” –
Shushan Purim was invented by whomever wrote the megilla, Richard. And your explanation seems kinda far-fetched. If the Jerusalemites knew Pesach was cancelled, why would they celebrate upon news of outlying celebrations?
Don’t get me wrong – I like your premise. I just think Shushan Purim throws a wrench into it.
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Try reading the Megillah again – without presumptions.
It doesn’t say anything about walls, Jerusalem or otherwise. It says: This is why the Jews who are ‘spread out’ celebrate the 14th of Adar. Then it says: Mordechai sent dispatches to ‘all provinces’ asking them to celebrate these days on the 14th and the 15th. Sounds like the Jews who were spread out originally celebrated the 14th, and at some point later the 15th was added, perhaps like the second day of yomtov.
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I learned to read megillah when I was thirteen, in order to do mivtzoyim gigs at $50 a pop. It is surprising how little attention people pay to the actual words of the scroll. I once went around asking people what Vashti fate in the story is. They INVARIABLY answered that she was hung or otherwise killed. (for those who don’t read Hebrew, she was banished.) In fact, when I tried to read it myself with a greater focus on the meaning than on the Trop, I found that I could make little headway into hebrew tense/mood/aspect without relying on my presuppositions about the intended meaning (although it is easier for me to parse than most biblical texts)
Most people are, however, familiar with the next occasion (aside for Vashti’s banishment) that the king’s inability to revoke his decree becomes an underlying premise for the plot of the story.
Following Richard’s excellent theory, (which has been suggested before, although I do not remember where I read it) we might imagine that this repeated premise, without which the whole plot collapses, could analogously refer to the festival for which preparations have been made. Although a new writ has been issued (scheduling the holiday a month forward) the original writ cannot be annulled, only modified.
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I personally love purim because 1) I love dress up, and 2) Hello, we are celebrating that Esther married a non-Jew and thereby became the savior of the Jewish people. Viva inter-marriage!
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Adam’s Eve; Today, there is no clear cut historical evidence of either. The genuine unfolding of the Story of Esther or, the true Jewish lineage of the “Ethiopians”. We have to rely on a hunch, or “Gut Feeling”. So, (Adopting the attitude of the author of this article.) I’m inclined to believe the story of Esther as recounted in the Talmud. With the “Ethiopians”, on the other hand, I have more than a hunch that they’re not Jewish at all.
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So a 2500-year old tradition is obviously baseless, but a far-fetched theory based on nothing has more validity?
And I thought you unpious crew claimed to be the intellectuals!
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Theories like this make me laugh. This is an over simplification of a deep issue that, because of its skepticism, is considered “intellectual”, “realistic” and “delving to the depths of the matter” in this day and age. Read some of the deeper meanings behind why it is called Purim because of the lottery and why it is not an “insignificant detail of the story”.
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