A holiday for believers and skeptics

Polls often present a false choice: you either believe in God, or you don’t. But belief is more complex. 

The Jewish holiday of Purim, celebrated March 13-14, embodies this tension. It is considered holier than Yom Kippur, yet it’s a story of survival where God is never mentioned, and no overt miracles occur. 

It is based on the Book of Esther, found in the Jewish and Christian Bibles. Scholars say that Jesus celebrated it in the unnamed feast in John 5:1. 

An etching of an 1865 painting showing Esther condemning Haman. (iStock)

As a kid I didn’t celebrate Halloween so Purim was the replacement. It’s a holiday of reckless joy. You dress up, drink and party. It was a religious excuse for a Jewish version of Mardi Gras.

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But beneath the revelry are layers of meaning. We read the Esther scroll, exchange food baskets and give charity. Many consider it holier than the fasting and prayer of Yom Kippur because it elevates the mundane – transforming eating and drinking into spiritual purpose. It also takes more effort to find meaning in the chaos of life than in the structure of ritual.

But if it’s so holy, why is it based on a book in the Bible where God and the supernatural are left out? Imagine Easter without Jesus' resurrection, Passover without sea splitting, or erasing the miracle of Hanukkah’s one day of oil lasting eight. What would be left? Isn’t divine intervention – and God – the whole point of a religious holiday?

Some suggest God’s absence was to avoid Persian censorship of the book. Others see it as a deliberate shift from open divine intervention to showing how God’s hidden presence shapes history. Or perhaps it’s testing faith in uncertainty. 

On Purim, the Israelites reaffirmed their acceptance of the Torah willingly, without miracles or external pressure. (iStock)

The Talmud teaches that the Torah’s acceptance at Sinai was influenced by divine coercion. But on Purim, the Israelites reaffirmed their acceptance of the Torah willingly, without miracles or external pressure – choosing faith in the face of uncertainty. Purim shows a path where omitting an explicit God reference creates space for both believers and skeptics to find their own meaning. 

Esther, a Jewish orphan, conceals her identity and becomes queen (Esther 2:10, 2:17). Haman, the king’s advisor, plots to annihilate the Jewish people (Esther 3:5-6). Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, urges her to reveal her heritage (Esther 7:3-6). A single night of the king’s insomnia sets off a chain reaction that flips the script (Esther 6:1). The king issues a new decree allowing the Jews to defend themselves, thereby thwarting Haman’s plan (Esther 8:5-11). 

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The story unfolds like an improbable political thriller. Esther is in the right place at the right time. A forgotten orphan rises to power. What are the odds that one accident after another leads to a nation’s survival? 

If I believe in chance, it is a masterclass in luck, timing and human action. If I believe in God, it is proof that miracles don’t need to break the laws of nature. They happen through people, politics, and the randomness of life that, in hindsight, is destiny.

There is a tradition of drinking to the point of not knowing the difference between "cursed is Haman" and "blessed is Mordecai." This intoxication is to break down our perception of good and evil. The same people who play villains in one moment are instruments of salvation in another. The belief is that we are all just playing roles in a cosmic plan. 

Israeli children dressed up for the festival of Purim parade in Netanya on March 21, 2008. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

Yet, life often seems to defy a benevolent plan. As a child, I experienced the profound tragedy of my father’s death. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group murdered my Israeli cousin, Meir Tamari. Recently, my sister-in-law and niece died in a devastating water accident. A few months ago my dear friend from college took his life. These losses challenge the belief in a guided destiny and seem to highlight the randomness of suffering.

Many scholars, of course, say the Purim story is folklore evolved from a Persian festival or an ancient Jewish tradition of reenacting survival stories. Its literary style feels too perfect, almost theatrical.

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Yet, whether it’s history, allegory, or both, its message of seeking meaning in apparent randomness remains unchanged. 

And whether or not Purim "happened," the story of Jewish survival in the face of relentless persecution itself seems miraculous. Mark Twain famously pondered the mystery of how empires have risen and fallen while the Jews have endured. When the 18th-century monarch, King Frederick the Great of Prussia, asked for proof of God, his doctor pointed to the continued existence of the Jews. 

I’ve spent my life caught between two worlds: one of faith, where God controls history, and the world of reason, where things just happen and we make sense of them later. Most of the time, I feel like I have to choose. Purim won’t let me.

Hasidic Jews celebrate the festival of Purim in Brooklyn on March 4, 2007, in New York City. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Ultimately, faith and doubt aren’t enemies. They are the same search for meaning. As Rabbi Jonathan Sachs said, faith is "the courage to live with uncertainty." 

And Purim meets me exactly where I am – caught between belief and questioning, certainty and wonder.

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The world today feels like Purim. I wonder if history is just chaos, if the bad guys win and the rest of us are just trying to survive. But then I think about Mordecai, who refused to bow when everyone else did. I think about Esther, who spoke up when she had every reason to stay silent.

They didn’t know if God was with them. They acted anyway. That’s what Purim teaches me.

You don’t wait for miracles. You don’t wait for certainty. You act.

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Purim reminds you that you don’t have to have all the answers. It’s enough to just ask questions. Because whether or not we believe in miracles, we still have to decide how we’re going to act.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s the only miracle we ever really need. And maybe that’s also why Purim is holier than Yom Kippur.

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