Tetzaveh: The Pattern of Purim

God’s control of history is on full display in the Scroll of Esther — read next week during Purim. Yet His Name does not appear in the book at all. Divine providence operates through concealed miracles, often quite literally clothed in garments.

In Megillah Esther, Mordechai warns Esther (whose real name is Hadassah) to hide the identity of her people. The idea of concealment drives other pivotal events in the Tanakh:

• Isaac’s blessing is given to Jacob disguised as Esav.

• Joseph stands before his brothers unrecognizable dressed as Egypt’s viceroy.

• Moses is hidden in a basket and thereby saved from Pharaoh’s murderous decree.

• Even David remains overlooked until his brothers are forced to acknowledge his presence before Samuel.

That same pattern emerges in Parashat Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10)

Moshe’s name first appears in the Book of Exodus and thereafter, every book in the Torah but he is absent from the Torah portion of Tetzaveh. He is present in every verse —but unnamed.

Just as God’s presence is embedded in the narrative of Megillah Esther without being mentioned, Moshe is part of the narrative in Tetzaveh without being identified.

The parallels do not end there.

Tetzaveh devotes itself to the sacred garments of Aaron, the first Kohen Gadol — vestments described as “for glory and for splendor.” Garments that elevate a man into service before the Creator. Chazal teach that Achashverosh, in a drunken display of arrogance, wore those very priestly garments at his 180-day feast — garments looted from the destroyed Temple.

His brazen act was the result of a serious miscalculation by the king’s advisors who had mistakenly determined that the 70 year decree against Israel that led to the destruction of the First Temple, had passed. The king was told that the God of Israel was asleep. The continued loss of the Temple was a sign to King Achashverosh that his empire was stable, so it called for a celebration—a big one.

But Purim is the story of reversal.

The king who paraded in stolen holiness believed that the God of Israel who seemed absent was orchestrating every turn.

The decree meant to annihilate the Jewish people became the instrument of their deliverance.

In our own time, we see forces rising in the what was once Persia who boast openly about wiping Israel off the map.

It may appear to the world at large that God is hidden.

It may seem that the stage belongs to others. But their control is an illusion.

Just as Mordechai commanded that the miracles of Purim be remembered and memorialized, may we soon witness deliverance that leaves no doubt about whose Hand guides history — even when that Hand is unseen.