![]() Following tradition, the book’s explanation of Purim as a “historical” event to be commemorated harks back to the Torah’s etiologies (stories of origin) for the well-established holidays. The Megillah gives legitimacy to this first post-Torah festival in a mode that is quasi-traditional but at the same time quite contemporary. Purim is clearly a new festival, of recent origin. The Megillah makes no suggestion that Purim is an ancient festival that had been forgotten or neglected. In fact, God is nowhere mentioned in the book and this absence emphasizes the distinction between the Torah and its festivals on the one hand and the Megillah and its festival on the other. But the Megillah’s mandate differs from the Torah’s in one crucial respect: It is careful not to say that God commanded the observance of Purim. The Book of Esther serves as the authorizing document for Purim, a holiday that is not mentioned in the Torah. Just as the more ancient festivals are historicized and their observance is mandated by the Torah, so Purim is historicized and its observance is mandated by the Megillah. Megillat Esther establishes the Jewishness of the holiday by providing a “historical” event of Jewish deliverance to be commemorated and an authorization, through the letter of Mordecai, for the continued commemoration of the event. ![]() Its main concern, the very reason for its existence, is to establish Purim as a Jewish holiday for all generations. For this reason, if for no other, Esther should be considered a “religious” book. Yet Esther, of all the biblical books outside of the Torah, is the only one that addresses the origin of a new festival.
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