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David: What is Shushan Purim?
Rabbi Marcus: Shushan Purim refers to the day after Purim. It commemorates the day when the Jews of Shushan, the Persian capital, finally rested after defeating their enemies.
Rabbi Marcus: The Book of Esther1 records that in the rest of the kingdom, the Jews fought and beat their enemies on the thirteenth of Adar and rested on the fourteenth. That’s why Purim is celebrated on the fourteenth. But in Shushan, due to a special request by Queen Esther, the Jews received special dispensation from the king to continue fighting on the fourteenth—hence Shushan Purim, which is celebrated on the fifteenth of Adar.
David: I heard something about walled-cities and Shushan Purim?
Rabbi Marcus: Indeed. Shushan was a walled city. So in order to commemorate the celebration of the Jews of Shushan, other walled cities celebrate Purim on the fifteenth as well. Now, because Shushan was the capital city, it was considered prestigious to celebrate Purim on the same day as Shushan. The problem with that was that at the time that Purim was established, all the cities of the Land of Israel lay in ruins. So in order to grant some prestige to the Land of Israel, the sages said that inhabitants of any city that had a wall around it in the days of Joshua—even if now it lay crumbled—should celebrate Purim on the fifteenth like Shushan.2
Rabbi Marcus: In this way the Land of Israel was honored in the commemoration of Purim. If a city did not have a wall in the days of Joshua but had one in the days of Purim, its inhabitants would read on the fourteenth (except Shushan, which did not have a wall in the days of Joshua).
Rabbi Marcus: The Rishonim point out the connection between Joshua and Purim: Haman was a descendant of Amalek, the perpetual enemy of Israel. Joshua was the first to wage war against them (see Exodus 17:9). Thus the celebration of Purim is associated with Joshua.
Rabbi Marcus: Today, Jerusalem and Shushan are the only cities that are considered walled-cities as far as Shushan Purim is concerned. There are other cities in the land of Israel about which there is some doubt. The inhabitants of such cities, like Safed, observe the fifteenth as well “just in case.” (I.e., they read the Megillah but without saying the blessing.)
[Read the sequel to this chat: How do un-walled cities celebrate Shushan Purim? ]
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