Why not keep Pesach to be saved on Purim?

Question

וַיַּעֲבֹר מָרְדֳּכָי וַיַּעַשׂ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־צִוְּתָה עָלָיו אֶסְתֵּר׃

So Mordecai passed and did just as Esther had commanded him. (Ester 4.17)

Targum says (first):

וּנְסֵס וּכְנֵס מָרְדְכַי וַעֲבַר עַל חֶדְוַת חַגָא דְפִסְחָא וְצוֹמָא גְזַר וִיתֵב עַל קִטְמָא וַעֲבַד כְּכָל דִי פַקְדַת עֲלוֹי אֶסְתֵּר:

Rashi ad loc:

וַיַּעֲבֹר מָרְדְּכָי. עַל דָּת, לְהִתְעַנּוֹת בְּיוֹם טוֹב רִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל פֶּסַח,

Mordechai passed. [he transgressed] the law by fasting on the first festive day of Pesach

My logic says exactly the opposite - the celebration of Pesach is the greatest testimony of G-d saving His people from the final solution, saving their bodies (unlike Chanukka) and intervening against their worst enemies. In the Aggadah, we say that in every generation our enemies raise against us and G-d saves us from them.

(This seems to fit Kaballically - Giluy Yesod Aba etc.)

Therefore, keeping Pesach and showing our Bitachon in Hashem seems to be a natural choice, especially acknowledging the fact that the decree was to be executed in 11 months!

A bonus point would be saying "זכר ליציאת מצריים" on Purim also!

Why didn't Mordechai and Ester consider this option?

Answer 1

Here's my own idea based on certain sources. Perhaps they were engaging in a form of "chutzpa beats being meek" i.e. חציפא נצח לבישה. See this answer for an explanation of what that is.

Mordechai did initially push back at Ester's request, claiming pretty much what you are claiming - Pesach is a great and holy mitzva, how can we entreat Hashem after violating it? Ester famously said:

זקן שבישראל, למה הוא פסח

Elder of Israel, why is there Pesach?

and Mordechai immediately understood her message - the Torah is only addressed to Israel, if they are destroyed, there is no Pesach (see Etz Yosef there; see also Yalkut Shimoni on Ester, Remez 1057)! He was the leader of Israel at the time, and it was in his power to suspend a matter of Torah law through inaction, in times of need (see Torah Temima on Ester 4:16; Pirkei D'Rebbi Eliezer 50).

So, Ester was saying, show some leadership and chutzpa: Hashem, without Jews, there is no Pesach, so now that you have suspended a decree of annihilation over our head, we will forgo the joyful mitzva of Pesach, and afflict ourselves, praying that You abolish the decree so we can have another Pesach with You next year and continue to serve You for all time.

Answer 2

My grandfather, Rav Eliezer ben David (Eleh Moadei 10) writes the reason was to rectify not listening to the Hachamim by going to the feast of Ahasuerus when they did not understand his reasoning. Now they had to listen to him when his reasoning was even more confounding.

In his view "not listening" is one of the 2 root character traits of Amalek, the other being love of money (see further in Eleh Moadei and here).

Answer 3

This answer is not a "traditional" answer and not for the faint of heart, it follows what's called "דרך העבודה" in my Rabbi Moshe Luria's Z"L tradition (the idea is mine). The answer is trying to consolidate numerous phenomena found in our sources (and a lot of my questions) into one solid picture.

1. Background info: Two luminaries were created and The Moon complained and was diminished and it only has the light that the Sun shines on it. So a יממה is divided into יום ולילה, day governed by the Sun and night governed by the Moon. So the Sun is metaphorically compared to Hashem and the Moon to Am Israel (see Birkas Halevonah). The same pattern is true for Jewish history, where some times are compared to the day and some to the night.

2. Hashem's revelation (גילוי שכינה) (the daytime, בחי' ז"א) time spanned from the Exodus and through the first Temple, as long as there was the prophecy. When Binyomin met Yosef he cried on his neck(S) hinting on the destruction of the two Temples (M"R) and thus hinting on the fact that the "daytime" will not be permanent and the era of the nighttime (חושך, בחי ב"ז, מלכות) will follow the destruction of the first Temple. This is pronounced in the Tfilos ofShabbos when we say "בה" in the evening time, "בו" in the daytime and "בם" at Minchah".

3. The Meggila says "קיימו וקבלו", Pirush, "started to observe what they received long time ago", hinting on the fact that the Jews did not accept the Oral Torah from Mt. Sinai to Purim, and indeed we don't see Chachamim and Halachic debates throughout all this time. The explanation for this would be simple - as long as there was the "Godly light" in the form of the prophecy, there was no use of the "human wisdom", in the words of the Gemmorah in Hulin "שרגא בטיהרא מאי מהני". In other words, Chachamim's wisdom would not be recognizable in the light of the prophecy.

4. Ultimately, a new era of lights-out begun, and there weren't so much Chachamim (which explains my question "where-was-the-sanhedrin-in-purim"). So Mordechai and Ester were pretty much on their own when deciding on the continuation of Am Israel after Haman's decree. And there were two ways to resolve the Gzerah: Mordechai actually proposed to follow the "traditional way", to make use of Pesach to facilitate G-d's redemption, to observe it with great Kavanah and let G-d shine His lights to get His people out of trouble. But Ester thought differently.

5. Ester learned from Moses that broke the Luchos, that the rebuilding of the nation from the aspect of the (the Moon - the Chachamim) can come only from the lowest point, of being cut off completely from Hashem (the New Moon - the total absence of light). To achieve that she offered not only to cancel Pesach with all the Kavonos, but to deliberately stop eating for 72 hours which is a certain "anti-Halachic" danger (see my other question "how-the-fast-was-allowed") and thus showing Hashem that כביכל we don't need His help, we can stand on our own.

6. The claim was so powerful that Mordechai decided to follow it. And this is the main reason the whole Meggilah is called Ester after her "revolutionary" decision. And that's all - no miracles (as I asked here "what-miracle-occurred-on-purim"). The whole point of the decree was not to exterminate the nation (which is impossible) but to see if they are mature enough to begin the era of the light of the Chachamim - following their own decrees (בחי' לא בשמים היא), to be able to institute their own laws that directly contradict the Heavenly law (see R"E and the Sages in תנורו של עכנאי - that G-d admitted "נצחוני בניי").

7. In continuation to that, they were able to build "their" Temple, the Temple where the 5 major attributes were missing and that was held by the people's unity (שנחרב על שנאת חינם) and not by G-d's will (like the first one).

8. It should be noted that the change (from one Bechinah to another in #1) wasn't immediate, and Mordechai's general approach remained relevant through Bet Shammai and later by its followers like R"E and to some point R' Yehoshua for the whole period of the Second Temple. I would dare to claim that the Sadducees (and the current Karaites and Shomronim) were/are actually the followers of the First Temple tradition that did not accept the second Bechinah of Chahamim and their possible control over the Heavenly Torah and the changes they set in the Oral Law.

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(for the Kabbalah lovers) _{I think that was the בחינה of נסירה and the following פב"פ which is articulated in Ester coming from the front of Achashverosh (answering my other question here) as נוק' which is fully grown and can stand as a separate entity (as in Adam story).}

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A personal request - this question offers a wide-angle view on the evens spanning thousands of years and behaviors of G-d and the whole nation in the tradition of "דרך העבודה". I am sure it is not widely known and accepted and even contradicts many mainstream commentators and Poskim. Please don't bother trying to focus on details and defy my theory with minute remarks.

Answer 4

Mordechai and Esther instituted the fast to rectify the sin of attending the Ahashveirosh's 7-day feast which extended through Yom Kippur. Of course, the Jewish community did not have a choice once they received invitation. However, even when forced to attend, they could at the least not enjoy the feast. (The sources will be added)