Purim and the God Who Acts Behind the Scenes

Two books in the Bible don’t mention God; Esther is one of them (the other is Song of Songs). But maybe there is a lesson here. There are a number of what could be called coincidences in the Megillah but maybe a coincidence is another way of saying God is acting behind the scenes. In the first place, Mordechai just happens to be within ear-shot of two of King A’s guards (I’m calling him King A because I don’t want an argument on how to actually spell or pronounce his name). Some time later when King A can’t sleep he summons a servant to read to him, and just by chance the book opens at the entry recalling Mordechai’s act of loyalty. And then in walks Haman to try to get permission to hang Mordechai.

And maybe there is an argument that the story is political rather than spiritual? Or at least theological, since God is doing stuff behind the scenes. What do I mean? Well, in Exodus God appears to Moses and there is interaction, and with The Prophets, there are messages they are receiving and relaying to the Jews. But in Esther, two people are doing what they can to save the Jews, but they believe that they are acting alone, whilst God is doing the heavy lifting off stage.

And something else. The Megillah tells us that Purim will never be forgotten, and the Talmud enforces this by telling us that all the holidays will eventually be forgotten but Purim will not. This is in the Jerusalem Talmud Megillah 1:5. RAMBAM also mentions it in the Mishneh Torah.