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Purim - Attribution, not Retribution

 


The Mishna in Avot 6:6, and the Talmud in Megillah 15a say:

הָאוֹמֵר דָּבָר בְּשֵׁם אוֹמְרוֹ, הָא לָמַדְתָּ שֶׁכָּל הָאוֹמֵר דָּבָר בְּשֵׁם אוֹמְרוֹ מֵבִיא גְאֻלָּה לָעוֹלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (אסתר ב) וַתֹּאמֶר אֶסְתֵּר לַמֶּלֶךְ בְּשֵׁם מָרְדֳּכָי:

It seems odd that we should attribute the entire salvation to the fact that Esther credited Mordechai with discovering the plot. There were so many other factors involved. Esther being the queen and interceding, the people fasting and repenting. What is the Gemara trying to tell us?

Perhaps the answer lies in the nature of Purim. The narrative of the Megillah weaves together a string of seemingly disparate events that, in hindsight, show a hidden hand, an architect of history. But it would be possible to see those as isolated natural events, political changes, etc. 

It is only through the wide lens and proper attribution of the events that we understand that there was a redemption!

Therefore, Purim, is the holiday of attribution. Once who attributes words to he who spoke them, that one recognizes that Geula comes to the world.

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