Say what you want about evil Mexican drug lords who run vast criminal enterprises that wreak havoc with the lives of millions, but their nicknames have panache. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel kingpin dispatched by Mexican authorities this week was no mensch, but he was called El Mencho (real name: Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes). Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, commonly known as El Chapo, led the Sinaloa Cartel and was the most powerful drug trafficker in the world until he was extradited to the U.S. and sentenced to life in prison. Even fictional goons in the cinematic universe get the "el" honorific: El Macho, the supervillain disguised as a Mexican restaurateur in Despicable Me 2, not to mention El Guapo, the Mexican bandit who faced the crack team of Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase in The Three Amigos. It is the definitive "el" that grants these personalities a certain no sé qué. They are all accustomed to hide, which demands that we go seek.

This brings us to El Rey (The King), the central character of Megillas Esther. The word המלך appears almost 170 times in the Megillah, on the surface level referring to אחשורוש but on a deeper level revealing God's imprint on human affairs: El Dio at work behind the scenes.

One of the common misconceptions about Megillas Esther is that all these events took place within the span of a few days. But a careful look at the dates actually recorded in the text paints a different picture. Not only were the Jewish people in Achashverosh's 127 provinces מְפֻזָּר וּמְפֹרָד, scattered far and wide, so too were the historical events we will soon commemorate. The massive feast that opens the Megillah, at which Vashti is "offed," takes place in Year 3 of Achashverosh's reign (בִּשְׁנַת שָׁלוֹשׁ לְמׇלְכוֹ עָשָׂה מִשְׁתֶּה לְכׇל־שָׂרָיו וַעֲבָדָיו). A full four years later, in Year 7, Esther became the new queen (וַתִּלָּקַח אֶסְתֵּר אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ אֶל־בֵּית מַלְכוּתוֹ בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָעֲשִׂירִי הוּא־חֹדֶשׁ טֵבֵת בִּשְׁנַת־שֶׁבַע לְמַלְכוּתוֹ). And Haman's ascension to power and the main action of the Megillah does not take place until Year 12 (בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן הוּא־חֹדֶשׁ נִיסָן בִּשְׁנַת שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה לַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ הִפִּיל פּוּר הוּא הַגּוֹרָל לִפְנֵי הָמָן). And eventually our holiday is dubbed "Purim" for the following reason:

עַל־כֵּן קָרְאוּ לַיָּמִים הָאֵלֶּה פוּרִים עַל־שֵׁם הַפּוּר עַל־כֵּן עַל־כׇּל־דִּבְרֵי הָאִגֶּרֶת הַזֹּאת וּמָה־רָאוּ עַל־כָּכָה וּמָה הִגִּיעַ אֲלֵיהֶם

Therefore, they called these days "Purim," because of the "pur" [the lot]. Therefore, because of all that is written in this letter, and what they saw, to [do] this, and what transpired with them.

Rashi explains the meaning of this strange final phrase:

וּמָה הִגִּיעַ אֲלֵיהֶם. מָה רָאָה אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ שֶׁנִּשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בִּכְלֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ, "וּמָה הִגִּיעַ אֲלֵיהֶם": שֶׁבָּא שָׂטָן וְרָקַד בֵּינֵיהֶם וְהָרַג אֶת וַשְׁתִּי. מָה רָאָה הָמָן שֶׁנִּתְקַנֵּא בְמָרְדְּכַי, וּמָה הִגִּיעַ אֵלָיו: שֶׁתָּלוּ אוֹתוֹ וְאֶת בָּנָיו. מָה רָאָה מָרְדְּכַי שֶׁלֹּא יִכְרַע וְלֹא יִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה, וּמָה רָאֲתָה אֶסְתֵּר שֶׁזִּמְּנָה לְהָמָן

And what transpired with them. What did Achashverosh see that he used the sacred vessels, “and what happened to them as a result,” that Satan came and danced among them and slew Vashti. What did Haman see that he became jealous of Mordechai, “and what happened to him as a result,” that they hanged him and his sons. What did Mordechai see that he did not kneel or prostate himself, and what did Esther see that she invited Haman?

Each episode on its own would have amounted to nothing. It is the aggregation of disparate events, recognized only in hindsight, that produced triumph over our mortal enemy. The word פורים can also be read as a variant of פירורים, crumbs. Each crumb on its own is insubstantial, with barely any calories, but strung together, you get yourself a gezunte hamentasch. A led to B which eventually produced C and ended up with D. If Achashverosh had not overreacted to Vashti's refusal, Esther would never have been in a position to beseach him and reverse Haman's cruel decree. The hidden El Dio only becomes revealed over time, with great patience and sensitivity.

To illustrate this concept using crumbs from the 20th century, Rabbi Mordechai Miller z"l of Gateshead, England studied British history. He recognized the American socialite and divorcee Wallis Simpson as the "Vashti" of Jewish survival in the face of the Shoah. When King Edward VIII - a known Nazi sympathizer - abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry Simpson, בָּא שָׂטָן וְרָקַד בֵּינֵיהֶם, embroiling the country in controversy and crisis, Hitler was strengthening his grip on Germany and the noose had already begun to tighten against its Jewish population. While Parliament fretted about Edward and the newly-minted King George VI, one lone voice slowly and deliberately gained government support for military action against Hitler; that voice belonged to Winston Churchill. Churchill's influence became greatly magnified in the wake of the abdication, and his indomitable spirit galvanized the world to face the Nazi scourge. Little crumbs here and there, and the seeds of salvation are planted in advance of the threat (Megillah 13b):

״אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה״. (אַחַר מַאי?) אָמַר רָבָא: אַחַר שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא רְפוּאָה לַמַּכָּה.

“After these events did King Achashverosh promote Haman” (Esther 3:1). After what particular events? Rava said: Only after the Holy One, Blessed be He, created a remedy for the blow and set in place the chain of events that would lead to the miraculous salvation was Haman appointed, setting the stage for the decree against the Jews to be issued.

You can spot El Dio at work, sometimes within the choices of El Rey, but only from a distance, only in retrospect.

In addition to Purim, the operative word for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur also happens to be המלך. How many times does המלך reverberate within our shuls each Tishrei? Rosh Hashanah reveals what Purim conceals, as El Rey emerges to be coronated by us, and suddenly we stand face-to-face with the מלך שבשדה, the King in the Field. Rav Hirsch z"l wrote that we can isolate each letter of מלך as a crumb that when combined grants a composite portrait of The King. This is because מ-ל-ך are also prefixes in Lashon Hakodesh.

מ = from (everything comes from Hashem)

ל = to or for (everything is ultimately for or goes back to Hashem)

ך= like (everything reflects and bears a likeness to Hashem)

And the definitive ה at the beginning of המלך declares Him as the One and Only, which we recognize in full glory and splendor as the Yomim Noraim crescendo on Yom Kippurim, יום כיפורים, a day like Purim, יום כ-פורים. If we do Purim right (this takes a lot of forethought), we can achieve the same closeness and clarity that can be experienced at Neilah.

Esther herself, taken against her will to the palace of Achashverosh and installed as queen, could not have comprehended at the time why this had transpired. This was no glamorous existence, to be torn from her husband Mordechai (Megillah 13a) and become enslaved to a disgusting tyrant who subjugated the women of the empire and treated them like personal property. For a full five years, Esther waited and wondered and was probably mystified by her fate. Clarity was only achieved upon Haman's ascension. The crumbs of Vashti's death, the assassination plot of Bigtan and Teresh, and the genocidal decree of Haman, could finally be assembled into a coherent structure. Yes! This must be why I was chosen. As Mordechai tells her:

וּמִ֣י יוֹדֵ֔עַ אִם־לְעֵ֣ת כָּזֹ֔את הִגַּ֖עַתְּ לַמַּלְכֽוּת

And who knows, perhaps you have attained to royal position for just such a crisis.

Perhaps the trials Esther endured during her palace incarceration, and indeed the whole depraved scene described in the Megillah, can be considered in light of some current events. As we get older we eventually realize that the Megillah is a very adult story. When we read how Achashverosh preyed upon the women of Shushan and exerted control over his harem in order to demonstrate his omnipotence, we are reminded that this behavior still exists in this world; it is not just ancient history. One of the many ironies of the Purim story is the ultimate manipulation of powerful men by the once-weaker women in their lives: Esther of Achashverosh and Zeresh of Haman.

The media are in the process of sifting through the crumbs of the so-called Epstein Files, piecing together millions of sordid documents and photographs related to the investigation into one powerful menuval's systematic abuse of vulnerable women, and all the aristocrats who joined him; בָּא שָׂטָן וְרָקַד בֵּינֵיהֶם. Now, titans of industry, royals, pillars of academia, political leaders, and even a current and former president have been ensnared in his web of immorality. The Megillah has always been current events, on so many levels (Megillah 7a):

שָׁלְחָה לָהֶם אֶסְתֵּר לַחֲכָמִים: כִּתְבוּנִי לְדוֹרוֹת

Esther sent to the Sages: Write me for future generations

So as the crumbs begin to drop and we witness the downfalls and humiliation of the once-mighty, we wonder how the dots connect, why this or that magnate had to resign or retreat at a particular time, and where this all leads. There's always a domino effect at work, even if we can't detect it right away. We can only view the crumbs clearly after much time passes. But they're always present, and we have to know that.

In this way, our Purim experience paves the way for Pesach. We have to both nullify the chametz (ביטול) and search for the chametz (בדיקה). Even crumbs seem to matter during the search process (Pesachim 6b):

אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב: הַבּוֹדֵק צָרִיךְ שֶׁיְּבַטֵּל. מַאי טַעְמָא, אִי נֵימָא מִשּׁוּם פֵּירוּרִין — הָא לָא חֲשִׁיבִי

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: One who searches for chametz must render all his chametz null and void. What is the reason for this? If you say it is due to crumbs that he is obligated to look for but failed to detect in his search, they are inherently insignificant, and null and void by definition. 

Crumbs can indeed be hard to find, but Purim beckons us to begin our search.