Purim is a time of immense love— it’s a stick of dynamite, with the power to remove that wall that separates us from Hashem in one blast
Purim. We’re so used to the name of the day, we don’t give it a second thought.
But names are significant, they express and reflect the essence of that thing. On Pesach, we celebrate Hashem passing over our homes at the moment of redemption. Sukkos reminds us of the love Hashem expressed by surrounding us by His seven clouds of glory in our sojourn in the desert. However, the name Purim — lots — seems to reflect an ancillary aspect of the Purim story. Why was this special day not named after a facet of our salvation?
Rabbi Chaim Friendlander, in Sifsei Chayim, traces the lottery motif through Torah. The most obvious use of a lottery took place on Yom Kippur when the Kohein Gadol cast lots deciding the two goats’ fates. Eretz Yisrael was divided among the shevatim through a lottery system. In these cases, the lottery in effect transferred the decision directly to the Almighty.
In the Purim story, Haman cast two lotteries, one for the month, one for the day (hence the plural — Purim) believing that it would be decided by chance. In this act, Haman showed that as well as being Amalek’s physical descendent, he was spiritual heir to Amalek’s worldview.
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