Purim: The Masquerade
by Rabbi Richard Jacobs
When you walk the streets of Beit Shemesh (or the Jewish area of any town) in the run up to Purim, you see the shop racks full of costumes, the masques of masquerade hanging on display, adorning arcade mannequins. “Mordechai” and “Esther” joust for attention with mutant ninja turtles and Batman; kallah dresses alongside Winnie the Pooh.
Dressing up on Purim is a long-standing custom first recorded in the writings of the Mahari Mintz, a late 15th century Italian Rabbi and scholar.
Why do we wear costumes on Purim?
Of course, dressing up is fun and adds to the simcha and the joy of the Purim celebrations, but is there anything more?
Clothed in natural happenings
One of the deeper reasons for this custom is that the entire miracle of Purim was clothed in natural happenings. The events of the Purim story happened over a period of years and are seemingly unconnected. There is not even an explicit mention of G-d’s name in the Megillah. In fact the very name of the Megillah — “Esther” — hints to the hidden nature of the miracle. When the Talmud asks, “Where do we see a hint to Esther in the Torah?” it answers with a verse from Devarim (31:18) “v’Anochi haster Astir Panai” (“and I will surely hide My Face”). The word “Esther” means, “hidden”.
‘Dressing up’ in the Megillah
Within the Megillah there are a number of “dressings up”. Vashti remains attached to her attire despite the demands of Achashverosh. Esther does not reveal her people — no one knew where she was from nor realized she was Jewish. People who saw her thought she was from their (foreign) nation. Mordechai wore sackcloth in mourning for his people and was later dressed in the clothes of the king.
The root of Amalek’s hatred of the Jewish People
To take another approach, Amalek is the direct descendant of Esav, and it is with Esav that we first encounter the idea of clothes concealing that which is within. Esav is the archetypal “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. His outward behavior was that of a tzaddik, while his inner drives were pure evil. In contrast, Yaakov’s righteousness was so concealed that even Yitzchak did not recognize it until Rivka revealed it. Yitzchak was going to give the special blessing to Esav. At his mother’s instigation Yaakov, wearing Esav’s clothes, preempted Esav and went to Yitzchak with the food that Rivka had prepared. On a superficial level, Yaakov’s behavior seems deceptive. By dressing in different clothes on Purim we demonstrate that Yaakov did not commit a sin, and even though he wore the garments of Esav, Yaakov is indeed “blessed”.
On a practical note
One of the mitzvot of the day is giving charity to the poor. Receiving charity can be embarrassing for someone. When they are in fancy dress, however, no one can see their face and they are not recognized, thus sparing the embarrassment.
A matter of identity
A mask and costume hide the identity of the wearer. From the outside not only can you not tell who the individual wearer is, you don’t have any insights into their nature. In the same way that we drink until we don’t know the difference between “Blessed is Mordechai” and “Cursed is Haman”, the costume tells us that we really don’t know who stands before us.
And the message we take forward to the rest of the year? Is the face that’s before us, the face that’s before us? Or the face that they keep in in a jar by the door? Even unmasked, is their face a façade?
The first step in unveiling the real person is to really, truly, listen. As a mentor, therapist or friend; in a drop-in center, educational workshop or learning center; with guidance, social skills or crisis intervention – to really, truly, listen.
Hakshiva – for the future of our children.