Purim—On The Calendar And In The Heart

The symbols of the holiday of Purim are concealment, the custom of dressing up into party costumes, and wearing masks.Where does this custom of wearing masks on Purim come from? The main character of Purim is Queen Esther, meaning the kingdom (Malchut), the system that controls the entire universe. This kingdom is called “Esther,” meaning concealment.

In fact, in our time, we see that everything is in concealment. We do not know who controls us, we are unaware that there is a program in nature controlling our lives. We are in a field where some upper force, manifested in the form of many different forces, in the form of vast network controlling the entire world, rules.

Science is only now starting to gradually discover that everything in nature is interconnected and that the world is a closed, integral system with global connections. We see only a small part of reality. Also, we are not talking about some unknown dark energy in the universe, but about a reality that is completely hidden from us that we cannot even imagine. Our entire world is a complete concealment.

The inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature is controlled by instincts, and it thus asks no questions. Yet, a person must understand what he is living for. If he does not find an answer to this question, he feels very limited, disappointed in life, and does not know what to do with himself. His animal body continues its normal life, gives birth to offspring, but a person feels miserable.

A person feels that there is a certain concealment, a system, Malchut, that controls us in a concealed way, as if the great Queen Esther. Esther does not appear as a woman, but as an entire kingdom that controls us so that we do not understand where we are going and what we are doing.

The people of Israel faced the state of Purim many times over the course of history, that is, they were under threat of destruction. This threat comes in order to awaken us, to remind us of our role so that we do not continue living like all the other 127 nations that MegillatEsther talks about.

We must reveal Esther, we must bring this concealment to revelation. All other nations with whom we live act in order to awaken us to this mission. It is impossible to awaken the people, their egoistic desire, through good, and make them think about spiritual life. Jews try to forget about their mission. They delve into corporeal values, striving for achievements in science, culture, and especially for money and power.

In order to awaken us, King Ahasuerus and his helper Haman appear. In fact, they do not understand what they are doing because there is another King above Ahasuerus who is completely concealed, but He determines everything in order to bring humanity to the attainment of the Creator. This is only possible through the Jews, because there is a secret hidden in them, the spiritual gene that allows them to do this.¹

Haman is the egoistic desire that cannot be corrected but can only be destroyed. Haman and his ten sons are the evil system unsuitable for correction, which opposes the governance of the upper force, the desire to bestow and loving another as thyself. Haman cannot agree with that; therefore, we must kill this kind of inclination inside of us.²

The great egoistic desire, Haman, makes preparations to kill everybody, both Mordecai and King Ahasuerus, in order to rule the entire kingdom by himself. This enormous egoism cannot enter into any cooperation with other forces but seeks full control over everybody. Therefore, in our time, Haman is revealed everywhere: in religions, beliefs, and also in governments if they declare that they alone should rule the world.

But Megillat Esther tells us that by the order of the king, Haman gets hanged on the tree that was prepared for the Mordecai’s execution, and the city of Shushan celebrates its freedom. Thus, we come to the fact that there is no more evil in the world because we destroyed and cancelled it.

In essence, Megillat Esther tells us how humanity reveals all the evil in the world and understands that it is necessary to destroy human egoism, the desire to receive for one’s own sake. Thus, we come to the absolutely good state, to the end of correction, when there is no evil left in the world. The holiday of Purim is dedicated to this, we rejoice and drink to the state when “…he does not know the cursed Haman from the blessed Mordecai” because there is no more Haman in the world and there is no need to be afraid of egoism.³

The evil Haman is hiding within every person and within all nations because it is the egoistic desire to control others. If we can get out of this evil, move away from it, then we will get closer to the revelation of good, to the upper system that controls us. Without evil, it is impossible to reveal good or even come close to it. Evil exists precisely in order for us to feel the need for good, to guide us to goodness.

We need to reveal the evil of egoism in every person, in every country, in the world, and, as wisely as Mordecai, Esther, and Ahasuerus acted against Haman, ensure that this evil force disappears from the world. This is what we need to learn from Megillat Esther and I hope that we will achieve it.⁴
From KabTV’s “New Life #1094 – Concealment And Revelation On Purim” 3/14/19