Weekend Meditation: Purim--From Hidden To Revealed!!

Esther 4

We are walking in today:  Weekend Meditation: Purim--From Hidden To Revealed!!

Witness hide throughout the Bible:  H5956 `alam--to conceal, hide, be hidden, be concealed, be secret, to hide oneself, hide

Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide H5956 mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

The Torah testifies...............
 Deuteronomy 22:3 In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide H5956 thyself.

The prophets proclaim..................
 Isaiah 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide H5956 not thyself from thine own flesh?

The writings bear witness...........................
 Proverbs 28:27 He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth H5956 his eyes shall have many a curse.

Psalm 10:1 Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest H5956 thou thyself in times of trouble?

​Hiddenness and revelation are at the very foundation of the Book of Esther and the celebration of Purim. Indeed, Esther’s name itself is from the Hebrew root s-t-r meaning hidden. Furthermore, Esther is not called a “Book” but is more precisely referred to as “The Scroll of Esther” or Megillat Ester. Hidden in the word megillah is the root g-l-h that means “to reveal” and also “to exile.” Megillat Ester could then be translated as “The Revealing of the Hidden” or, alternatively, “The Exiling of the Hidden.” Thus the title of the story presages one of its central themes.
From the very beginning of the story things are veiled: Va​​shti refuses to reveal her beauty “to the peoples and the officials.” (1:11- 12) The reason for her refusal is withheld. The King doesn’t know “What shall be done, according to the law, to Vashti for failing to obey the command of the King?” (1:15)

​​Four times in verse 2:6 the root g-l-h – exile – is repeated as Mordekhai’s identity is made known to us: he is a descendant of a certain Benjaminite exiled by King Nebukhadnetzar at the time of the destruction of the First Temple.As was said earlier, g-l-h is also the root for “to reveal.” Is this perhaps a hint that Mordekhai, the exiled ​Hebrew, will be revealing something? Also hidden in the confrontation between Mordekhai and Haman is the old enmity between Saul, also a Benjaminite, and Haman’s ancestor, Agag the Amalekite. Further back, the enmity is between Amalek andIsrael; even further back, between Ya’akov and his twin Esav, Amalek’s grandfather.
Of course, we all know that a key element of the plot is that “Esther did not reveal her people or her kindred, for Mordekhai had told her not to reveal it.” (2:10) The King does not know that Haman is “the foe of the ​Hebrews” and that is why he is plotting their destruction. (3:10) Esther does not know the reason why Mordekhai tears his clothes and changes into sackcloth, and why “there was great mourning among the ​Hebrews, with fasting weeping and wailing and everybody lay in sackcloth and ashes.” (4:1-4)
Is there a hidden reason for Esther attaining a royal position? Was it so that she may save her fellow ​Hebrews? (4:14)
The King realizes that Esther is troubled and pledges to grant any request, but she postpones revealing to him her secret. (5:3-4)
The King had forgotten to properly honor and reward Mordekhai for having saved his life earlier. (6:1-3) Haman thinks that the King is about to honor him. Not even in his wildest nightmares does he suspect that the honor is meant for Mordekhai. (6:6)
At this point in the plot, the tide is reversed and that which had been hidden slowly becomes unveiled: Mordekhai, the exiled ​Hebrew, is paraded in royal garb through the city square.” (6:11) Haman’s wife Zeresh, who had contributed the idea of impaling Mordekhai, now reveals that “If Mordekhai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of ​Hebrew stock, you will not overcome him; you will fall before him to your ruin,” (6:13) presaging that Haman’s plot against the entire ​Hebrew people in Persia will not prevail.
Esther reveals her ​Hebrew identity to the King and Haman (7:4) and that it is Haman who has plotted the massacre. (7:6). It is Haman who now pleads with Esther for his life, to no avail. He is impaled at the stake he had made for Mordekhai. (7:7-10)
Esther reveals to the King her kinship with Mordekhai. (8:1)
A royal document is displayed to all the peoples allowing the ​Hebrews to defend themselves and take revenge on their aggressors. (8:13)
Sackcloth and ashes, and the darkness of mourning turn into “light and darkness, happiness and honor.” (8:16) Fasting (4:3; 4:16) turns into feasting, holiday and merrymaking. (8:17; 9:17-19; 9:22)
Indeed, on the very day in which the enemies of the ​Hebrews had expected to get them in their power, the opposite happened – venahafokh. (9:1) Tragically, the opposite literally occurred and our Persian ancestors are responsible for the massacre of 75,000 of their foes. (9:16)
But not everything hidden is reversed and revealed: Remarkably and surprisingly hidden throughout the entire Megillat Ester, is ​the Most High. Not once is ​the Most High’s name mentioned in the telling of this story.
“When Mordekhai learns of the decree that the ​Hebrews are to be annihilated, he puts on sackcloth and ashes and utters a great bitter cry; what other biblical author would have omitted to add ‘to the LORD’? When the rest of the ​Hebrew population of the Persian Empire learn of the decree, everybody weeps and laments and lies in sackcloth and ashes; why is there not a word about their praying, about their confessing their sins and throwing themselves on ​the Most High’s mercy? When Esther tells Mordekhai about the risk involved in her appearing before the king unbidden, he argues with her that perhaps she has – but he doesn’t say ‘by ​the Most High’s doing’– attained her high station so that she may utilize it to save her people from their present peril, and that if she fails to act the ​Hebrews will be rescued – why doesn’t he say ‘by ​the Most High’? – in some other way, while just she and her family will perish. So Esther asks Mordekhai to instruct all the ​Hebrews to fast –why does she avoid the word ‘pray’? – for her for three days […] Not that an average biblical writer would necessarily have mentioned the Deity in every one of these instances, but could he have narrated all that is narrated in Esth​er 4 without specifically mentioning ​the Most High or prayer even once? And look at the way our book tells what happened when the deliverance came (8:16-17; 9:18-19) and the directions it gives for its celebration (9:20). The news that the​ Hebrews were permitted to defend themselves was received with rejoicing and celebration – but thanksgiving is not mentioned. And after they had successfully utilized this privilege, they instituted two days of rejoicing and merrymaking and exchanging of gifts – but nothing is said about thanking and praising ​the Most High. Mordekhai, later confirmed by Esther, directed that these holidays should be so observed punctually on their proper days by all ​Hebrews throughout the ages. And still this biblical author manages to say nothing about the ​the Most High of our fathers having heard our cry and having, in His mercy, delivered us with His mighty and His glorious right arm.”
While ​the Most High’s name is absent from the telling of this story, I do not believe that ​the Most High is absent but rather that ​the Most High remains in hiding. The Babylonian Talmud ​ asks, “Where is Esther indicated in the Torah? – [In the verse,] And I will surely hide My face – Ve-anokhi haster astir panay (DEUT. 31:18).” The Talmud thus makes the connection between Esther and the hiding of ​the Most High’s face, an important motif that appears in the Torah and continues throughout biblical and post-biblical ​Hebrew theology. The hiding of ​the Most High’s face is the withholding of ​the Most High’s presence and blessing, it is a metaphor for the terrifying silence of ​the Most High: “When You hid Your face, I was terrified” (PSALMS 30:8).
Numerous reasons are given for the hiding of ​the Most High’s face in Megillat Ester: It would be inappropriate for ​the Most High’s name to appear in the midst of levity and mockery such as in this story. The deliverance of the ​Hebrews of Persia at the end of the story of Esther does not end their exile. In other words,​the Most High’s face still remains hidden. ​The Most High’s intervention is not always displayed publicly but is sometimes done in hiding, anonymously so-to-speak – b’seter.
The Most High’s face hides in Esther. When she is able to conquer her fears about her identity and reveals who she truly is, it is ​the Most High’s face that is revealed and the salvation takes place.
The Hebrew word for face – panim – is intimately connected to the word p’nim – inside. The Talmud uses the words lifnei velifnim to describe the innermost part of the Temple, where the High Priest has an intimate dialogue with ​the Most High on Yom Kippur.
When we reach deeply inside ourselves, or when we establish a relationship of intimacy with an other, that is when we reveal our p’nim and our panim and we allow ourselves to be our truest selves, ​The Most High’s face is revealed through our face and blessing flows into the world. That is when we act Megillat Ester, when we become actors in our own play called “The Revealing of the Hidden.”
Why then the Purim masks and costumes? Under the mask and the costume we feel safer to reach for and experiment with the deeply hidden aspects of our selves. We test our own feelings as well as other people’s reactions as they encounter us. At the end of the day, the mask comes off and a new, truer face shines… or, if no transformation occurred, another Purim has passed and the old mask goes up again.

Shema Selah what is being hidden and revealed according to the purpose of the Most High?