David Bernstein | 3.12.2025 8:48 AM

The basic story of the holiday of Purim, which starts Thursday night, is this. The King of the Persian empire takes a Jewish bride, Esther, who conceals her Jewish identity. Meanwhile, the king's evil vizier, Haman, plots a genocide of Jews throughout the empire, and wins the king's blessing to undertake the massacre on the 14th day of the month of Adar. Esther's uncle Mordechai gets wind of the plot, and beseeches Esther to intervene. Esther persuades the king to execute Haman, but the decree approving the massacre cannot be revoked. The king instead gives Jews throughout the empire the right to defend themselves, and the following transpires:

For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand. But the other Jews that were in the king's........

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