Two lots of Purim

על כן קראו לימים האלה פורים על שם הפור.

"Therefore they called these days Purim, after the name of the 'pur' (lot)" (Esther 9:26).

The Megillah states that the festival is named "Purim" specifically after the pur, the lot that Haman cast.

ומשמע שעיקר הנס תולה בזה.

And it implies that the essence of the miracle hinges upon this.

Since the days are named after the lot, the lot itself must be central to the entire miracle.

כי איך יקרא שם היום על דבר טפל שאינו העיקר.

For how could the day be named after a secondary matter that is not the main point?

One would not name a festival after a minor detail; the name must reflect the heart of the miracle.

כי קשה הול"ל פור למה פורים.

For there is a difficulty: it should have said "Pur" — why "Purim" (in the plural)?

If named after Haman's single lot, the festival should be called "Pur"; the plural form "Purim" demands explanation, implying there were two lots.

אך שגם גורל ישראל הי'.

Rather, there was also a lot of Yisrael.

The plural hints that besides Haman's lot, there was a second lot — the lot belonging to Bnei Yisrael.

ואף כי לא הפילו פור.

And even though they did not cast a lot —

Bnei Yisrael did not literally cast any lot of their own.

אך זה הפור שכשהגורל שלהם להשמיד לאבד כל היהודים.

— yet this is the "pur": that when their lot [i.e., the nations'] was to destroy and annihilate all the Jews —

The very lot Haman cast, which decreed the destruction of the Jews, becomes "their" lot in a deeper sense.

וזה א"א.

— and this is impossible.

The complete annihilation of Bnei Yisrael can never come to pass, for Hashem's promise to preserve them is unbreakable.

ממילא נהפך לטוב וגורל שלהם הוא גורל שלנו באמת.

Automatically it is turned to good, and their lot is in truth our lot.

Because Bnei Yisrael's destruction is impossible, the same decree must necessarily reverse into good — so the enemies' lot is really, in its inner truth, a lot of salvation for us.

רק שצריך תפלה וצעקה לישועתו ית'.

Only that it requires tefillah and crying out for His salvation, may He be blessed.

The hidden reversal to good is drawn into reality through the prayers and cries of Bnei Yisrael for Hashem's deliverance.

וכ"כ בנוסח אשר הניא פור נהפך לפורים ע"ש.

And so it is written in the liturgical text "Asher Heini": "the pur was turned into Purim" — see there.

The piyut "Asher Heini" confirms this idea, that the very pur of Haman was transformed into our Purim.

וזהו באמת גודל הנס שמה שהגורל מורה עליו הוא שהטבע צריך להיות כן.

And this is truly the greatness of the miracle: that what the lot indicates is that, by nature, it had to be so.

A lot reflects the natural order and destiny; Haman's lot showed that by the laws of nature the decree should have been carried out.

ומזה מוכח שלא הי' הצלת ישראל עפ"י טבע כלל רק בנס.

And from this it is proven that the deliverance of Yisrael was not according to nature at all, but rather by a miracle.

Precisely because nature itself pointed toward destruction, the survival of Bnei Yisrael could only have come through an open miracle from Hashem.

וז"ש במדרש כי אגרת שלהם סתום להיות עתידים כו'.

And this is what the Midrash means: that "their letter is sealed, to be ready in the future…"

The Midrash teaches that the decree was "sealed" within the natural order, set to unfold as nature dictated.

כי הגורל הי' רק שבזה היום צריך להיות דבר זה.

For the lot indicated only that on this day this matter had to occur.

The lot fixed a particular day on which something decisive had to happen — by nature, the day of the Jews' destruction.

ובאמת הי' צריך להיות כן כדי להיות נהפך לטוב.

And in truth it had to be so in order for it to be turned to good.

That same fated day was destined, in Hashem's deeper plan, to become the day on which everything reversed into salvation and good.

ונמצא שהוא ב' גורלות:

It thus emerges that there are two lots.

Hence the plural "Purim": the one decreed lot contains two — the enemies' lot of destruction by nature, and Bnei Yisrael's lot of miraculous salvation hidden within it.

Summary: The festival is called "Purim" in the plural because the single lot Haman cast was really two lots. A lot reflects the natural order, and by nature the decree of destruction should have been fulfilled — yet the annihilation of Bnei Yisrael is impossible. Therefore the very lot of the enemies necessarily reversed into a lot of salvation for Yisrael, drawn into reality through tefillah. The greatness of the miracle is precisely that nature itself pointed to destruction, proving that the rescue came purely through Hashem's open miracle.