PURIM - BOOK OF ESTHER

King Ahashverus, the ruler of 127 provinces in Persia, held a grand feast in the palace of the city of Shushan. The drinking went on and the tables were laden with delicacies. The king wanted to show off his wife's beauty, so he asked her to attend the feast. Queen Vashti refused, so the king banished her.

It was at this time that two criminals conspired to murder the king. Fortunately, Mordechai the Jew overheard and reported it, so the king was saved and the story was written in the Royal Chronicle.

The now lonely King Ahashverus announced a beauty contest, hoping to find the most beautiful daughter in his kingdom to marry. The contest included Esther, the beautiful niece of Mordechai, who was a Jewish girl. Mordechai advised her to not tell anyone that she was Jewish. The king finally chose her, so Esther became Queen of Persia.

Meanwhile, Haman, the king's minister, ordered everyone to kneel before him. But the Jew Mordecai, Esther's uncle, refused, so Haman decided to kill all the Jews in the kingdom. The day appointed for this was fixed by a roll of the dice.

As the day Haman set for the Jews drew nearer, only Queen Esther could save them. All the Jews were fasting for the queen, because anyone who entered the king's presence uninvited could be executed.

Meanwhile, the king could not sleep and to make him sleepy, the King's Book of Chronicles was read to him, which opened at the very passage where Mordechai saved the king's life.

Ahashverus asked Haman, who was loitering there, how he would reward the actions of a man to whom he owed much. Haman thought the king was thinking of him, and asked for the greatest possible reward: that the man be led around the city on the king's horse and in his clothes. He was very surprised to find that it was not him, but Mordechai, whom he hated so much.

At the end of her fast, Esther finally went to the king, told him that she was Jewish and what Haman was planning against her people. Ahashverus could not revoke the king's decree, but allowed the Jews to resist. In the end, it was the evil Haman who hung on the gallows instead of the Jews.

The Jews defended themselves and made this day of reversed fortune a day of joy and celebration.