Likutei Moharan 10:8/ליקוטי מוהר"ן י׳:ח׳

18. And [all] this corresponds to Mordekhai and Esther, Haman, the aspects of Purim, the lots which Haman cast and the measure of barley offering.

2Haman corresponds to idol worship, as our Sages taught: [Haman] made himself into an object of worship (Megillah 10b). This is the reason “the pur -lottery he cast” (Esther 3:7) [fell] in the month which Moshe died (Megillah 13b). For Moshe is the one who counters idolatry. This is why he was buried “opposite Bet Pe’or” (Deuteronomy 34:6), as our Sages expounded: This was in order to eliminate the idolatry that was Pe’or (Sotah 14a). For the letters of the name Moshe have the same numerical value as those of charon af (Divine anger). He is the one who counters the Divine anger resulting from idolatry, because it was [Moshe] who received the Torah—the hands and feet through which idol worship is eliminated.

3This is why [Haman rejoiced when] the lot fell in the month of Moshe’s passing. He presumed that [the power of] Moshe, the one who eliminates the power of idolatry, had already passed from the world and that there was no one else who could counter the power of this idol worship.

4But Mordekhai and Esther had the power to counter Haman’s idolatry. This is why, in their day, the Jews received the Torah anew. As our Sages taught: “[The Jews] fulfilled and took upon themselves” (Esther 9:27) —they fulfilled that which they had previously taken upon themselves (Shabbat 88a).

5This is the meaning of “they fulfilled and took upon themselves.” “They fulfilled” corresponds to the feet, and “took upon themselves” corresponds to the hands. This is the very aspect of the Torah.

6This also corresponds to Mordekhai and Esther. MoRDekhai is “MoR D’ror” (Exodus 30:23; cf. Chullin 139b). The word d’ror denotes CheRut (freedom), which is an allusion to the hands, as in, “My beloved put his hand in by the ChoR.” And Esther corresponds to the thighs, as in, “Just as the thigh is hidden,” as mentioned above.

7And this is the connotation of [the festival’s name,] PURim. It alludes to the elimination of idol worship, as is written (Isaiah 63:3), “The PURah (winepress) I have trodden alone; and of the nations, there was none with Me.”

8Through the emanation of Mordekhai and Esther, the aspects of the hands and the feet, atheism is eliminated. Faith is thus increased in the world because of them. As it is written (Esther 2:7), “And [Mordekhai] ŒMeiN (raised) Hadassah”—[i.e., Esther]—of whom it is written (Esther 2:20), “just as when she was ŒMNah (raised) by him.” For both [Mordekhai and Esther] correspond to EMuNah (faith).

9And, as mentioned above, [elimination of atheism and an increase of faith] is achieved by means of the ruach . This corresponds to: The Book of Esther was dictated with ruach-of-holiness (Megillah 7a), an aspect of, “his heart carried his feet.” For, in the main, the idolators are dependent upon [Esther], she being synonymous with the feet, as in (Proverbs 5:5), “Her feet go down to death.” Therefore, the primary rectification of idol worship comes through her.

10And so, specifically “The Book of Esther was dictated with ruach-of-holiness.” Even though it is true that idolatry is also rectified through Mordekhai, nevertheless, since the idolators are mainly dependent upon <the feet>, the main rectification is through her. The book was therefore named after Esther (Megillah, ibid.). This is the reason that specifically “The Book of Esther was dictated with the spirit-of-holiness.” For the spirit is in the heart, and through it the emanation of the hands and feet is revealed. It is just that the primary dependence is upon the feet/Esther.

11This ties into the concept of the omer (sacrificial measure) of barley. The OMeR corresponds to MoRDekhai: its letters Ayin MoR [suggest] MoR D’ror. The word d’ror denotes CheRut (freedom), which is “ChoRut (engraved) on the tablets.” {As our Sages taught: Do not read that the tablets were chorut, but rather that they provided the Jews with cherut (Eruvin 54a).} And [chorut] corresponds to revealed Torah, an aspect of “Ayin b’Ayin (eye to eye)” (Numbers 14:14).

12And Se’ORim (barley) corresponds to “The Book of Esther was dictated with ruach-of-holiness.” As it is written (Deuteronomy 32:2), “Like Se’IRim (wind blown rains) upon the grass,” which denotes ruach.

13This is why the Midrash teaches that when Haman came to Mordekhai, he found him teaching the laws of the barley offering. [Haman] said to them, “The measure of your barley offering will one day come to defeat” him and his sons (Esther Rabbah 10:4). Through the measured barley offering, which corresponds to the hands and feet—i.e., clapping and dancing—idolatry/Haman/haughtiness is eliminated.

14And this is the reason why Haman ordered the preparation of “a tree of fifty cubits” [on which to hang Mordekhai] (Esther 5:14). He hoped to undermine the influence of the fifty days of Omer-Counting from which Mordekhai and Esther drew their power.