(RNS) — Purim, the Jewish holiday that falls this year on Monday (March 2), is often regarded as a joyful, even raucous holiday — costumes, laughter, drinking and noise meant to drown out the name of Haman, the evil counselor to the Persian emperor, King Achashverosh. But beneath the celebration lies a complex ethical question: When does personal risk become a moral obligation? The Purim story, told in the Bible’s Book of Esther, focuses on the plot by Haman to kill all the Jews in Persia after he takes offense when Mordechai, another Jewish figure at court, refuses to bow to Haman. When Mordechai hears of Haman’s plot, he goes to his cousin Esther, a young Jewish woman who has been forced to become Achashverosh’s queen, and asks her to expose the plot to the king. Esther’s initial response is fear and hesitation. Approaching the king without being summoned is a capital offense, and revealing that she had concealed her Jewish identity before their marriage endangered her further.  Silence would be safer for her, but …