Yet there was one person who bowed to no man and who acknowledged no deities. This was Mordechai. Ironically, there arose at that same juncture an enemy who hated the Jews specifically because of their Jewishness. And, as the Talmud goes on to tell us, the Jewish response to their enemy was not to run from the scourge of their Jewish identity, but to realize that nothing in the world was more precious to them than their very Jewishness. These words not only represent a reaction to the eventual downfall of Haman, but to a renewal of their commitment to being Jews.
Light represents a fresh commitment to studying the wisdom of the Torah.
Joy, gladness and honor represent a reinvigorated attachment to the holidays and other observances like circumcision and the wearing of Tefillin. The Jews of Persia had now come full circle. Where they were once so casual about their Jewishness that they could enjoy a party celebrating their own physical and spiritual downfall, now events had brought about a fresh appreciation of Jewish life. On the surface, the story of the Jews in Persia could have been about any ethnic group escaping near-annihilation. Yet beneath the surface lays a uniquely Jewish struggle to maintain a passionate sense of identity amidst a host culture that was at times welcoming and, at times, threatening.