Purim and Yom Kippur?

by Joseph Gray, Canadian Director

Purim has always been one of my favourite Jewish holidays. The story of Purim centres on a young Jewish girl, Esther. God raised her up though a series of dramatic twists and turns to become Queen of Persia and then used her to help save the Jewish people from almost certain destruction at the hand of the wicked Persian Prime Minister, Haman. The powerful drama of the story of Esther captures the imagination each time it is told.


At Purim, we gather to read the Book of Esther and celebrate with seasonal treats. For example, Hamantaschen is a sweet pastry baked especially at Purim that is meant to look like a three-cornered hat (Haman’s hat). Purim is a time of joyous masquerade and fun. Children are encouraged to raucously join in the fun by grinding their groggers (toy noise-makers) to drown out the name of wicked Haman.

For all this fun and festivity, is there a more serious meaning to the feast of Purim?

Rabbi Joseph Karo, a medieval Jewish scholar and mystic, once wrote a treatise noting a parallel between Purim and Yom Kippur. This seems incredibly strange considering that Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and Purim are so completely different in their mood and tone. Yom Kippur is probably the most sombre and serious of all the Jewish festivals, a day of fasting and repentance. Purim, on the other hand, is a day of joyous celebration. As we remember how God used Esther to save Israel from destruction, our celebrations take on a near comical tone. What could these two festivals possibly have in common?

Rabbi Karo noticed the similarities in the Hebrew names of these two holidays. “Yom ha Kippurim” (the Day of Atonement), he wrote, sounds interestingly like the Lord was saying that the Day of Atonement was “a day like Purim.” Although on the surface we know that the name Purim comes from the Persian word for “lots” (lots were drawn by Haman to determine his planned date for the destruction of the Jewish people), is Rabbi Karo’s theory too farfetched?

Let me suggest an interesting connection. We read in the Torah that on Yom Kippur the High Priest would enter into the Temple and then the Holy of Holies to make sacrifice and intercession for his own sins and for the sins of the people of Israel. It was as if God in His gracious mercy provided this vehicle, this action if you will, to expiate Israel’s sins. Purim, on the other hand, shows the gracious redeeming and saving action of our God on Israel’s behalf with little or no participation on the part of His people (no priests, no temple). In the story of Purim, God used a powerless Jewish girl (Esther), her praying uncle (Mordecai) and a Gentile King (Achashverosh), to save His people Israel from destruction. He saved both the righteous and the unrighteous among Israel. God saved Israel simply because He is the faithful, merciful God of the covenant.

In the Brit Hadashah (The Renewed Covenant), Rabbi Sha’ul writes, “He [God] made Him Who had no sin [Yeshua], to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteous of God.” Rabbi Sha’ul was drawing directly from the promises he had studied in the Prophet Isaiah: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment which brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

As we celebrate with joy at Purim, we again recognize God’s amazing love. The Jewish people did nothing to merit or earn God’s miraculous rescue at Purim. God saved us because He loves Israel and is faithful to His covenantal promises (even when we are faithless). Even greater is the miracle of Israel’s future total national redemption to which Purim points. As Rabbi Sha’ul once wrote, “In this way all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26). May that day of Messiah’s coming return be soon.

Have a wonderful Purim!