I didn\u2019t get to watch Netanyahu\u2019s Congress Address last Tuesday, but a friend sent me a quote from the speech that caught his attention. In the quote, Netanyahu mentions the upcoming festival of Purim, when Jews read the book of Esther, describing the foiling of Haman\u2019s plot to destroy them. Haman was the king\u2019s viceroy. As Netanyahu put it, \u201cToday the Jewish people face another attempt by yet another Persian potentate to destroy us. Iran\u2019s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei spews the oldest hatred\u2014the oldest hatred of anti-Semitism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oddly enough, when I read these words and thought about anti-Semitism, another picture came into my mind\u2014the 1984 motion picture, Gremlins. In that film, a cute little creature named Gizmo splits into multiple vicious creatures called Gremlins at the touch of water. The only way to kill those creatures is to expose them to direct sunlight.<\/p>\n
Evidently, Ayatollah Khamenei is a threat to Israel and a zealous anti-Semite. But in the 21st century, he is not the only one spewing out this hatred. Throughout the world, anti-Semitism is not only rising, but is becoming increasingly vigorous, brazen, and worst of all, socially acceptable.<\/p>\n
Haman was never cute, like Gizmo, but 2,500 years ago, when this instance of anti-Semitism emerged, there was still only one of him. Today it seems less like he has incarnated in the body of Khamenei, and more like he has split into millions of gremlins. Luckily, the same tactic that overturned Haman\u2019s verdict can now overturn this \u201coldest hatred of anti-Semitism\u201d in people\u2019s hearts.<\/p>\n
When Haman first contemplated destroying the Jews, it was not just personal vengeance against Mordechai for not bowing to him. It was vengeance against Mordechai the Jew! This is why it is written that \u201cit seemed contemptible in his eyes to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him the people of Mordecai. Therefore, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.\u201d Haman went to the king and told him they were disobeying his law, explaining that \u201cThere is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples … and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Jewish nation is not an ordinary one. Its foundation is ideological, rather than biological or geographical. Its formation was completed at the foot of Mount Sinai, when we pledged to unite \u201cas one man with one heart.\u201d At that time, we were also entrusted with a task to be \u201ca light for the nations.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Haman said that the Jews were breaking the king\u2019s law, he specifically meant that they were separated. This is why he complained about their separation and their breaking of the law all in the same sentence. By separating from one another, the Jews broke the law of unity by which they were formed as a nation, and therefore could not be a light for the nation. In that state, the only logical conclusion that the king could draw was that Haman was right, and he had no interest in letting them be.<\/p>\n
The king agrees with Haman\u2019s rationale and readily gives him the go-ahead to destroy the Jews. Likewise, today\u2019s Hamans are blaming us of spreading selfishness and ill-will wherever we are. They are blaming us of causing wars because they do not feel that we are displaying unity, but the opposite. Naturally, they take Haman\u2019s view: there is no point letting us be.<\/p>\n
Just like Haman, today\u2019s anti-Semites don\u2019t necessarily hate Jews personally. Many of them have Jewish friends. But when it comes to thinking about Jews as a collective, this is when their hatred emerges. If we keep this point in mind, we will recognize that anti-Semitism is not personal hatred, but anger at a nation that is not performing its task in the world, and is therefore detrimental, or at least redundant in many people\u2019s eyes.
\nEsther\u2019s wisdom solved the problem for the Jews in ancient Persia. She said to Mordechai, \u201cGo, gather the Jews.\u201d As soon as they gathered and reestablished their unity, they undercut Haman\u2019s argument in favor of destroying them and rendered it invalid. From there on it was only a matter of time before Haman would be overthrown.<\/p>\n
Today, we need not overthrow anyone. All we need is to employ the same tactic that Esther initiated and Mordechai implemented: we need to unite. As gremlins are killed by direct sunlight, anti-Semitism is dissolved by unity. Spreading unity, the law by which we were forged as a nation, is the meaning of being \u201ca light for the nations.\u201d When we unite in order to spread that unity throughout the world, no one will think that \u201cit is not in the king\u2019s interest to let them be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Happy Purim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I didn\u2019t get to watch Netanyahu\u2019s Congress Address last Tuesday, but a friend sent me a quote from the speech that caught his attention. In the quote, Netanyahu mentions the upcoming festival of Purim, when Jews read the book of…<\/span><\/p>\n