Our sages teach us that in the utopian world of Mashiach, the holidays as we know them will be modified, scaled back, or otherwise abolished completely. The promise of ultimate redemption will be the most miraculous fulfillment of destiny. Even the Exodus will pale in comparison; it would be like lighting a candle in the daytime. But even though our holiday calendar will look different, there are two holidays we will maintain – Chanuka and Purim.
As with so many aspects of our tradition, and even more so because this is only a prediction, this is disputed; but the position is worth our attention.
Our sages understood Chanuka and Purim as the bridges between the ancient world of prophecy and the world of exile we know so well; as the daytime ends nighttime, so did Esther end the age of miracles.
But there’s something unusual about the analogy. We typically associate exile with the archetype of darkness and nighttime, yet our sages liken the age of exile to the daytime.
R’ Yonasan Eibeshutz explains that our festivals and holiday commemorate a divine intervention at a particular time. The Creator took the Jewish People out of Egypt. The Creator provided shelter. The Creator gave them the Torah.
But the Purim and Chanuka stories aren’t like that; they’re the opposite because the Creator doesn’t “do” anything at all in these stories. The participants in the story do not interact with the Creator, and the Creator takes no direct action and does not interfere whatsoever. Only the readers get to connect the dots, recognizing the Creator’s guiding hand behind the scenes, invisibly weaving events together.
R’ Shlomo Farhi teaches that with that in mind, it only follows that Purim and Chanuka would still be celebrated after the final redemption, even long after the other holidays are not. They are the holidays of the exile, showing how even when the Creator seemed more distant, it only ever seemed that way, but in truth, we were never alone for a moment.
We often repeat King David’s prayer about the internalization that the Creator has always been alongside you, shadowing you everywhere you have been:
ה׳ שומריך, ה׳ צלך על יד ימינך. ה׳ ישמור צאתך ובואך מעתה ועד עולם – God is your guardian; God is your shadow. God will protect your arrivals and departures, now and always.
We often associate shadows with darkness, but that’s a mistake.
Shadows only exist in the presence of light. They remind us that there is always light to be found, even in the darkest times.
When you realize the Creator is always with you, you are never alone, lost, or in the dark again. These stories end the age of miracles as the daytime ends the nighttime because they teach us that we don’t need miracles or prophecy to see the Creator.