1

The Scroll of Esther begins with 'And it will come to pass (literally be) in the days of...' ...ויהי בימי and then the Scroll continues to tell quite the exciting tale of what is known as the Purim Story. (Vashte removed, Esther becomes queen, Haman wants to kill Jews, Jews are victorious etc.)

Do we actually know when this will all take place?

This question is Purim Torah and is not intended to be taken completely seriously. See the Purim Torah policy.

Community
  • 1
Dr. Shmuel
  • 633
  • 1
  • 19
  • 69

4 Answers4

6

You left out the next word, which is a compound word that answers the question:

ויהי בימי אחש-וראש

And it will be in the days that I get a headache

(the ב רפה got mixed up for a ו, as the עיטור (quoted in בית יוסף אבן העזר לד) explains can happen sometimes)

So, when the author of the Megillah gets a headache, that's when the story will take place.

Community
  • 1
Y     e     z
  • 58,536
  • 3
  • 109
  • 249
6

The answer to this question is actually a deep secret, which cannot be revealed openly.

After all, Esther herself asked Mordechai this very question. When will the story of the Megillah occur?

His answer, as recorded in Esther 4:14, was:

וּמִ֣י יוֹדֵ֔עַ אִם־לְעֵ֣ת כָּזֹ֔את הִגַּ֖עַתְּ

Who can know if you have yet come to the time?

i.e. the precise timing of the Purim story is destined to remain a mystery.

This, however, is all on the level of peshat. If we read the verse using the tools of remez, we can indeed know when the story is going to take place.

וּמִ֣י יוֹדֵ֔עַ אִם־לְעֵ֣ת כָּזֹ֔את הִגַּ֖עַתְּ

And [there will be a website called] Mi Yodeya. If it is this time, you will have arrived.

i.e. The Purim story is destined to occur once Mi Yodeya is up and running.

Thus, we can conclude that it happened on December 6th 2009.

Joel K
  • 43,068
  • 4
  • 62
  • 166
3

Likutei Halachos writes:

יִהְיוּ כָּל הַמּוֹעֲדִים בְּטֵלִים, אֲבָל יְמֵי הַפּוּרִים לֹא נִבְטָלִים כִּי גַּם בַּנֵּס שֶׁל פּוּרִים רָאוּ נִפְלְאוֹת הַשְׁגָּחָתוֹ בְּכָל עֵת וָרֶגַע, שֶׁזֶּהוּ בְּחִינַת הִתְגַּלּוּת הַשְׁגָּחָתוֹ שֶׁל לֶעָתִיד. וְעַל-כֵּן יְמֵי הַפּוּרִים לֹא יִבָּטְּלוּ גַּם לֶעָתִיד

All of the holidays will be nullified, but the days of Purim will not be nullified, for also by the miracle of Purim they saw the wonders of His watch at all times and moments, for this is the test of the reveal of His watch in the future. Therefore, the days of Purim will not be nullified even in the future.

He clearly writes that we were given the Megillah as a test for when the events actually unfold in the days of Mashiach. Therefore, even if all the holidays are nullified, Purim will never be nullified, as its events haven't happened yet!

DonielF
  • 34,262
  • 4
  • 40
  • 143
-1

There's a simple answer, my great Dr. ...

It says "It will be in the days of Achashverosh". As far as I know, there was only one Achashverosh. Perhaps, there were a few Persian kings with that name; I wouldn't know. The point is that there are a few factors that would indicate that this will never happen:

  • Persia is now Iran. The Megillah calls the place Paras.
  • I can't recall the last time someone named Achashverosh lived in Persia, let alone anywhere else in the world.
  • If you think that Ruhani or any of these other Iranian Jew-hating leaders would ever allow a beautiful Jewish girl to be Queen of their country as it once was, I really challenge you to explain how you arrive at this reasoning.

So, in short, unless G-d arranges things this way, I don't see it ever happening. If it did, I can't imagine it being advantageous to anyone in the world.

DanF
  • 70,416
  • 8
  • 59
  • 244
  • @Dr.Shmuel You earned your PHD by writing a thesis. Unless someone else did the work for you, it was a lot of your own effort. It doesn't matter what your grades were; you earned the degree. My guess - you're using it for good work. Mind you, I have no clue what field you're in. – DanF Mar 06 '19 at 20:37
  • 2
    Isn't the entire point of the Megillah ונהפוך הוא and that Hashem is always intimately involved, even בהסתר פנים? Surely this could happen. (Recall that in the Megillah nobody knew that Esther was Jewish.) – DonielF Mar 07 '19 at 00:37