With all the comparisons being made of Terri Schiavo's sufferings with the Passion, now is a good time to remember another holiday, one that Jesus himself celebrated, which is happening this week: Purim, which begins tomorrow at sundown.

The story of Purim's origins is told in the Book of Esther. It celebrates the day that King Ahasuerus nullified an order he had made after being misled by his highest-ranking government official, Haman, that would have had all the Jews in Persia put to death. Technically, Ahasuerus couldn't reverse his order, so he ordered that, on the day Haman had ordained for the Jews to be slain, the Jews could fight back against anyone who sought their harm. Fight back they did, and they routed their enemies so successfully that many in Persia converted to Judaism.

But King Ahasuerus would never have nullified Haman's order or realized the depth of his evil, were it not for the influence of his wife, Esther. The queen had kept her Judaism a secret until she realized, at the urging of her uncle Mordecai, that she alone had the power stand between her people and their state-mandated destruction. She knew that she could have been killed herself for approaching the king without permission, but she chose to take the risk.

Mordecai convinced Esther with these words:

Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?