\n There is a well-known but difficult teaching from Chazal[1]<\/a><\/sup> that all the festivals are destined to be nullified in the World to Come \u2013 all except Purim, which will endure forever, as it says[2]<\/a><\/sup>, \u201cAnd these days of Purim shall not pass away from among the Jews.\u201d But what makes Purim so special? Is the miracle of Purim somehow greater than the Exodus from Egypt or the Splitting of the Sea? What\u2019s more, the miracle of Purim occurred in a hidden manner, unfolding within what appeared to be a completely natural, logical sequence of events. If that miracle was so great, why wasn\u2019t there a single open miracle in the entire Megillah? \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA hidden miracle is actually greater and more elevated than a revealed one.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n \n On face value, we would conclude that Purim was perhaps the least impressive, maybe even least important miracle that we celebrate. But Chazal are teaching us that the opposite is true. It is precisely because of the fact that no revealed miracle occurred in the Megillah that this miracle is so great! It was so great that it came from, what the Maharal of Prague calls: a higher, hidden place. In other words, a hidden miracle is actually greater and more elevated than a revealed one. The miracle of Purim occurred as a hidden miracle \u2013 a<\/em> nes nistar<\/em> \u2013 because its source is higher, rooted in the deepest, most secret realm. This needs to be explained. How is a hidden miracle which operates within the regular framework of the world\u2019s governance be considered greater than one that shatters the natural order?\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n This issue is made harder in light of the famous teaching of the Ramban[3]<\/a><\/sup>: that revealed and open miracles are intended to teach a person that everything, even the regular day-to-day happenings are all really miracles from Hashem. From this we see that our belief in the Creator who governs His world specifically comes from revealed and open miracles! From them, we learn about Hashem\u2019s Providence even in matters that appear to follow the world\u2019s natural order. The revealed and open miracle is thus supremely important, for from it we learn to believe. If so, why does the Maharal say that the loftiest and most exalted messages from Hashem don\u2019t manifest through revealed miracles but rather are concealed within the veil of ordinary, routine governance?\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n A hidden miracle seemingly requires deep contemplation and heightened awareness for a person to recognise it. The difficulty becomes even more acute when we realise that on Purim, not only is the miracle concealed within an apparently natural sequence of events, but even the one who is meant to publicise the miracle exists in a state of dulled senses and lost consciousness as the Gemara[4]<\/a><\/sup> states: \u201cA person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim until he doesn\u2019t know the difference between \u2018cursed is Haman\u2019 and \u2018blessed is Mordechai\u2019.\u201d How is it possible that a person should mark such an important event through drunkenness, which is a reprehensible trait, especially when it leads to a situation where instead of serving Hashem with joy, one loses his faculties and becomes unaware of the miracle that occurred?\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n To understand this matter, we must examine the essence of the miracle that occurred on Purim.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n Esther\u2019s coronation as queen in place of Vashti occurred before Haman\u2019s rise to power and before the harsh decree that followed. In the Megillah it says, \u201cAfter these things, King Achashverosh promoted Haman.\u201d Chazal[5]<\/a><\/sup> expound on the word \u201cafter\u201d: it means \u201cafter Hashem created the cure for the affliction, for He does not strike the Jewish people unless He first creates their cure. But for the nations of the world it is not so; rather, He strikes them and afterwards creates a cure for them.\u201d The question arises: what difference does the order make? What does it matter if the affliction was created before the cure or after it?\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n The Maharal explains that when the cure preceded the affliction, it emerges that the affliction was never truly dangerous from the outset. It was designed from the beginning to be part of a two-stage process: appearing in the first stage and being healed in the second. Therefore, when the complete picture is revealed and it becomes clear that the cure was created even before the affliction, we understand that there was never an evil decree to begin with. Rather, it was a deceptive appearance, designed from the start to lead to salvation in a script whose good ending was clear and written in advance. We can illustrate this through an image of someone lying on a table with a man with a blade in his hand standing over him. At first glance, anyone who sees this sight would be shocked. We would suspect the worst of the man holding the blade. But if we see bandages and needles with surgical thread on a table next to the patient, we will immediately understand that the surgeon is working to heal the patient, not to hurt him. The \u2018remedy\u2019 which has already been prepared gives an entirely different context to an otherwise terrifying scenario. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat appeared to be evil was never truly evil; it was always good!\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n \n A hidden miracle means that events unfold according to governance that was dictated in advance, appearing natural, because the \u201cDirector\u201d provided the cure before the affliction, so that the affliction itself was never dangerous, not even for a single moment. In such governance there\u2019s a pre-scripted process of v\u2019nahafoch hu<\/em> \u2013 it was turned about \u2013 where it becomes clear retroactively that from the affliction itself, Hashem prepared the cure. What appeared to be evil was never truly evil; it was always good! Such a process is more sublime than a story in which there\u2019s a natural order including a stage of genuine danger, where the Creator must then shatter the natural order with an open miracle to save His children. This clarifies why a hidden miracle is more exalted than a revealed one.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n Regarding the Megillah, the Mishnah[6]<\/a><\/sup> teaches: \u201cOne who reads the Megillah out of order has not fulfilled his obligation.\u201d This is because regarding the miracle of Purim, the order of events is critical. The greatness of the miracle lies in the fact that the cure preceded the affliction, so there was no danger from the outset, and everything was pre-scripted and must be understood to be good from the beginning.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n The festival of Purim is there to reveal the great secret hidden in the Megillah \u2013 and in all of our lives\u2019 events \u2013 where looking backwards one sees that the salvation preceded the trouble and sprouted from within it. What people perceived during the process as something bad was nothing other than good that was known and pre-scripted from the start. This secret is revealed to a person when he understands that there\u2019s an inner dimension not apparent on the surface, just as within his own personality there\u2019s an inner dimension that isn\u2019t revealed. And it is for this purpose we have a cup of wine on Purim. Wine is a liquid that is concealed within the grapes, and imbibing it correctly allows a person to reveal a side of himself that would otherwise be hidden. The intoxication \u2013 ad d\u2019lo yada<\/em> \u2013 is merely allowing the inner self to become liberated from the intellect that seeks to conceal it. It is about revealing the hidden, just as the story of the Megillah (which is from the word megaleh \u2013 reveal) was a process of revealing the hidden cure that Hashem intended for the Jewish people before the threat against us was even created.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n