Purim

Purim is a transitional holiday. It is the first post-biblical holiday. The Megilla is, I believe, the last book the Talmud credits the Eternal Author. The story is, perhaps, the first in sacred history fully situated in exile.

There are many themes to the Megilla but the most pronounced might be Law. One of its most oft-used words is Da'ath, which in modern Hebrew usually means "religion", but in the Megilla means "Law".

The King's law, in the Megilla, is universal. It is sent to every nation, in every language and script. Once issued in the King's name and sealed with the King's ring, it cannot be withdrawn. Haman argues for the destruction of the Jewish people by describing them as a people dispersed amongst the nations who do not follow the King's laws. The Talmud reads the King in the Megilla as referring (also) to the King of Kings.

In contrast to the rule of the King, is the leadership of Mordechai and Esther. Mordechai cannot compel Esther to appeal to the King, he must persuade her. Esther similarly must persuade the King. (Persuasion, in its different flavors, is another prominent theme of the Megila.) Even in victory, they cannot annul the King's decree, the letter of its law must stand. Instead, they issue a supplementary law, which, reading between the lines, people understand as fundamental change. Finally, they must persuade the Jewish People to accept the holiday and rituals of Purim. The Talmud understands that acceptance to be not narrowly of the new holiday but, rather, of the entire Jewish Law, the prior adoption of which the Talmud views as having been co-erced.

These competing senses of Da-ath would seem to reflect the difference between biblical and contemporary Judaism. Differences which are not simply of-necessity: The tradition views Purim as one of the few holidays that will be celebrated after the ultimate redemption.

On a different note:

Haman describes the Jewish people as not-obeying-the-king's-laws. The main law of the King previously mentioned in the Megilla is that women defer to their men. The Talmud sees Haman himself suggesting the law. The law -- and the Jewish disregard of it -- must have been of particular personal concern to Haman as the Megilla describes him as having a un-deferential wife.