This is not a religious holiday. This is what the Jewish Encyclopedia says about it, emphasizing that this holiday "is not connected with either the temple or any religious event."

The Babylonian captivity of the Jews ended (in 586 B.C. they were forcibly resettled after the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II). Those who wished could return to Jerusalem. True, it turned out that there were significantly fewer people wishing to return to their homeland than could be imagined by the lamentations and demands that preceded the liberation (from the cursed "prison of nations" – Russia – when its borders were opened, much fewer Jews also left than the leaders of the Zionist movement would have liked). "Although the Persian king allowed the Jews to return to their homeland, only forty-two thousand of them responded to his call, and millions remained in exile." Many in the capital of the world empire (which was Babylon at that time) were doing quite well, and a considerable number of Jews did not want to leave their homes, which had been inhabited for almost a century, to break off their usual ties, trade contacts, and to lose their established clientele. Thousands of Jewish families remained in the cities of the Persian Empire, and in a position that was by no means a slave (even on the other side of the events, Purim and Mordecai and Esther did not leave Persia, which seemed to be so dangerous for them, but remained there).

Over time, the situation began to surprise the Persians themselves. Looking around, they ceased to understand who had conquered whom. Did the Persians conquer Jerusalem, or did the Jews conquer Babylon? [244] As usual in such situations, the last institution of power that recognizes the threat to national interests and tries to defend them is the "power structures." And so, like Kryuchkov, who reported to Gorbachev about "agents of influence," the Persian Minister of Defense, General Haman, went to the royal Artaxerxes (the events took place around 480 B.C.) and shared his sad observations. If the rabbinic traditions are true and Haman was from the tribe of the Amalekites (in the Bible it is different: Haman is called a Macedonian – Est. 8:12), then his actions are understandable: "Haman from time immemorial harbored enmity towards the Jews because they once exterminated the tribe of the Amalekites, to which he himself belonged" (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11, ch.6, 5; this detail is not in the Bible, but again, a notch to the question of the "causelessness" of anti-Semitism).

As has just been noted, the times were still far from evangelical, and the morals were by no means Christian. Artaxerxes' reaction was decidedly pagan: to exterminate all Jews. His wife, Queen Esther, learns of Artaxerxes' plan[246]. The Tsar is unaware of her nationality (a trait that shows that there was no narrow nationalism and xenophobia in Persia at that time). And so, in a moment of delight and promises, Esther extracts confessions and promises from her husband: do you love me? So you love those I love? So you love my people? So you hate those who hate me? So you hate those who hate my friends and relatives? So you hate the haters of my people? So give vent to your hatred! Destroy my enemies, whom you consider your enemies! And Artaxerxes, who without much hesitation answered all these questions, now discovers with surprise that he has agreed to destroy all the enemies of the hated Jews...

But then the book of Esther should be read slowly. Her whole problem is in the dates.

Haman[247] planned his anti-Jewish pogrom in the first month of the year (Nisan; approximately our April). In response to his slander, letters were sent to the provinces ordering the massacre of the Jews to be carried out at the end of the year, in the 12th month (Adar, approximately our March). Haman was executed two months after the beginning of his anti-Jewish intrigue.

There were still nine months left before the planned pogrom, and therefore, after Haman's execution, it would have been quite enough to fulfill Esther's legitimate request: "If the king is pleased and pleased with his eyes, then let it be written that the letters written by him about the destruction of the Jews in all the king's provinces be returned according to Haman's plan" (Est. 8:5).

This is where I would like to see the end of the Purim story. Even the execution of Haman seems superfluous (for bad intentions – execution!). But still: the attacker is executed. The carnage is prevented. The Jewish people are saved. Here it would be better to read: "The end. And glory to God!"

But it is here that a turn takes place so abruptly that one is amazed, amazed at the deafness of those who do not notice this turn to this day and keep saying that Purim is a holiday of necessary self-defense.

So, what happens after the king agrees with Esther? "And then the king's scribes were called in the third month, that is, in the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day thereof, and all things were written as Mordecai had commanded" (Est. 8:9).

Mordecai, on behalf of the king, drew up a decree about the upcoming pogroms: "That the king allows the Jews who are in every city to gather together and defend their lives,[248] to destroy, kill and destroy all the mighty in the people and in the region that are at enmity with them, children and wives, and to plunder their possessions" (Est. 8:10-11)

This is a decree issued at a time when all danger hanging over the Jews had already been removed, when they already had practically all power in the Persian Empire. Esther demanded from the king a decree allowing the Jews to destroy everyone at will, after the execution of Haman himself (Est. 7:10). Here is a biblical text from which the sequence of events is clear: "And King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Judahite, 'Behold, I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and he himself was hanged on a tree because he laid his hand on the Jews; write ye also concerning the Jews, what ye please. And the king's scribes were called in the third month, that is, in the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day thereof, and it was written as Mordecai had commanded. And he wrote in the king's name, that the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to assemble and defend their lives, and to destroy, and to kill, and to destroy all the mighty men and in the provinces that were at enmity with them, children and women, and to plunder their possessions, in one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month; that is, the month of Adar."

Now imagine the horror that hung over the country: the decree written in the name of the king by Mordecai was not secret. It was announced immediately after signing and in all cities... For more than half a year, the people lived knowing that "on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of Adar," their Jewish neighbors would be able to enter any house and kill anyone they wished. "And the fear of the Jews came upon them" (Est. 8:17).

By the way, do you think there were more or fewer anti-Semites in the Persian Empire as a result of those events? And if there are more of them, then this cannot be considered a reaction to the behavior of the Jews?