Rabbi's Message
A Purim Perspective
At this time of year, the Jewish People looks to a most unusual - and enjoyable - festival known as Purim. The observance commemorates the colorful, and, at times, bizarre events related in the Biblical Book of Esther. It is a recollection of the triumph of the Jewish community of Persia in the fifth century B.C.E. over the murderous plot of the wicked Prime Minister Haman.
Like the Book of Esther itself, the observance has a whole carnival atmosphere. The service is not of the normally - formal kind. As the story is read from Esther, noisemakers drown out Haman's name, children and adults dress in costumes depicting the personalities of the episode, and a large party with games and humorous skits is held.
And yet, as with so much of life itself, right alongside the humor of Purim - and its biblical source book - is a very serious element, one which we must never forget.
In the text of Esther, when the diabolical Haman brings his plan for genocide against the Jews to the King Ahasuerus, he uses the following argument:
"There is this one people scattered and distinctive among the peoples in all the provinces of your empire. Their laws differ from every other people and the king's laws they do not obey. It is not to the king's interest to leave them in peace. If it seems right to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed ..." (Esther 3:8-9)
Therein, some 2,500 years ago, is the classic anti-minority argument, which plays into people's fears and ignorance:
If a group is different, they must be subversive and dangerous to the state. (Actually, the Jews of ancient Persia were very loyal citizens). This is a line of convoluted logic which can have crushing, lethal effects, as Hitler's attainment bears out.
In these perilous times, when national security is paramount, and justifiably so, at the same time it is more important than ever not to succumb to this “Haman mentality” - the so-called "different thus dangerous" argument. The hysteria of indiscriminate racial or ethnic profiling, and discrimination against minority groups - not only Muslims but others too - does a disservice to our country and its values.
American history of the last century teaches us some painful lessons of the sad results of the Haman argument. We have seen the horrible blot of segregation of African Americans ... the conspiratorial "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" document foisted against American Jews ... and the paranoiac internment of Japanese Americans during World War II (for which President Reagan officially apologized, in legislation, in 1988).
The greatness of our country attests to the exact opposite of Haman's warped logic. What has made America so special and successful is that so many different cultural and religious groups have come to these shores, each contributing its background to what we are as a nation. We are an amazing multifaceted quilt, linked together by a common national consciousness. Our differences strengthen us; they certainly do not endanger us, as Haman implored the Persian king.
In these difficult times, I hope that we shall guard ourselves against singling minority groups out, nativism, and hysterical prejudice. The Haman mentality - reflected in the ancient Book of Esther - is interesting to study. But it is certainly not worthy of repeating in the days in which we now live.
