A word of Torah:    
      The Talmud creatively misreads the verse in Exodus (19:17) that states that the Israelites stood at the foot of Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. Instead of translating the word tahtit as “at the foot” of the mountain, they read it as “under” (tahat) the mountain. R. Avdimi bar Hama said: This teaches that the Holy One suspended the mountain upon them, like an inverted vat, and said to them: If you accept the Torah, it is well; if not, your burial will be right here (Shabbat 88a). 
      God made an offer the people of Israel couldn’t refuse. Since the Torah is supposed to be a covenant between God and the people, this is deeply problematic. Any covenant made at the point of a gun (or a floating mountain) is not a valid contract because it wasn’t agreed to willingly. The rabbis recognized that there is an element of coercion when an agreement is being made between two parties of unequal power. This is true not only between God and Israel but between parents and children and in many situations even between adults. How to do we come to a place where an agreement between two people is one of mutual acceptance?
      The Talmudic text continues: Rava said: Nevertheless, the people of Israel freely accepted the Torah in the days of king Ahasheuras as it is written: “The Jews established and accepted (kiymu ve-kiblu)” (Esther 9:27), which was understood to mean that the covenant of Sinai finally was established in their day. Rava remarkably suggests that the Jewish people weren’t really bound by the covenant of Sinai for centuries until the time of the story of Purim. Why did the events of Purim change things? Was there something in this story to suggest that the covenant is now sealed?
      Unusual for a book of the Bible, God’s name does not appear in the Book of Esther. Faced with the threat of murder by Haman’s plan, it was Esther and Mordecai who brought about the salvation of the Jews. There were no miracles. No mighty hand bringing a plague on Shushan. There was just a strategy and acts of courage to overturn the threat.
       At the time of Sinai, the Exodus was still fresh in the consciousness of the Israelites. They felt overwhelmed by God’s power. It took the passage of time and a situation where people alone would act to save their community in the face of an existential threat for the Jews to feel empowered. The Jews of that time established Purim as a holiday, a holiday created by humans, reflecting human endeavors. They took ownership of their situation.
      The Torah finally becomes ours when we accept it freely. That process becomes a model for every act of agreement. Only when there is willingness on both sides to compromise will progress and even peace be possible.