Today was Purim Katan - The mini-holiday of Purim. Because this is a Jewish leap year, next month we will celebrate the holiday fully. On Purim, 2,400 years ago, our ancestors were saved from a Persian decree of annihilation.

These events were recorded by Esther—one of the seven prophetesses—and entitled Megillat Esther, a scroll we read every year.

Out of the 24 books of Tanakh, this is the only one with no mention of God. The events of Purim seem to unfold in a natural manner: We had Esther as queen & the influential Mordecai in a position of power. Maybe this miraculous salvation was “right place, right time”?

This question is the essence of Purim’s message to us.

God’s “Name” - His clear revelation of presence, is generally hidden in our lives. Like the Purim story, the events of your life can seem to unfold randomly. But the Divine One is very much directing every aspect of our lives and this world, behind the scenes.

“Megillat Esther” means to “Megaleh—Reveal” that which is “Hester-Hidden.” Purim encourages us to step up & tap into the energy of revealing the hidden divine influence in our lives.

We wear costumes on Purim to conceal our identity. Nature in our world is a costume that hides God. The challenge is to recognize that the world we see is merely a well-fitted costume, each detail chosen to express a specific aspect of the One hiding behind it. Then the mask slowly comes off, and a more intimate relationship with the One behind the disguise develops.

We eat hamantaschen cookies - whose inner sweetness is hidden inside the hardened cookie - to remind us that the painful events we experience have an inner sweet reason hidden inside them.

“Purim” means “lottery”, as the wicked Haman made a raffle to find an auspicious day to kill the Jews. Haman & Amalek spiritually represent a feeling of randomness, that life is just a raffle, a realm of chaos and chance.

The miracle of Purim reminds us of the most important truth of life: There’s a plan for you and this world. Goodness and truth will prevail. Like Esther, may we live a hero’s journey of living a purposeful life aligned to a higher vision of faith and trust in Hashem.