1.
Who was blamed for the final solution Haman prepared for us? Even then, there were those among us who blamed ourselves. The Jews are guilty, they said, because they angered their murderers, because they went to pray on the Temple Mount, a place known for its sanctity only to their killers; because they decided to cancel the pampering conditions given to their murderers in prison, and stopping academic studies for terrorists drove them to slaughter us; because Jews settled in their ancient homeland, which enraged their enemies to slaughter, rape, and behead; sure. In short, the massacre happened because Jews are different and their existence constitutes defiance in the eyes of their murderers. And in the ancient words: "There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different from all people" (Book of Esther 3:8).
There were among us those who received awards from the world for taking an "objective" stance regarding their own people's conflict with their murderers. After every massacre, they passionately argued that Jews would not be safe as long as their enemies were not safe, And so, perhaps unknowingly, they justified the massacre that our murderers committed against us. Our soldiers evacuated invaders from the homeland? They made a film about it in which Jews play the villains who stole a land not theirs, while their murderers are portrayed as victims. Thus, they could claim that "there is background to the massacre" and that hatred of Jews doesn't come without reason, and had Jews not decided to settle in Palestine – a land that was never historically or religiously connected to them (as written in Section 20 of the Palestinian National Charter!) – the world would be quiet and Jews would not be murdered. Of course.
2.
I envy anyone who reads the Book of Esther for the first time. The experience of salvation is dozens of times more powerful after the fear of the danger of extermination of the final solution. Mordechai knows the details of the plot and urges Esther to plead before the king for her people. She is full of doubts: I wasn't invited, and if I deviate from custom and arrive without an invitation, I'll be executed. Who said she would succeed in convincing the king to cancel the decree, after all, his national considerations are greater than the connection with the queen or her people? At this stage, it seems, the change is too fast for Esther – from an anonymous girl to queen of an empire, and then to savior of the Jewish people.
But a person doesn't determine when their moment of truth arrives. Mordechai says that the fact she is in the palace in a high-ranking position will not grant her immunity from the fate that will befall her people. If she doesn't dare and take a risk – "relief and salvation will come to the Jews from another place" (4:14) and she will disappear in the mists of history. "And who knows whether it was for a time like this that you attained royalty" (ibid) meaning why did it fall specifically to your lot to be plucked from your people straight to the top of the pyramid. It's now or never.
3.
I don't know if Esther was confident in her ability to turn the tables and foil the plot, but she decided to act. Before that, she asked to do so with the power of the entire people, as their representative. She instructs Mordechai to gather the Jews and fast for her for three days in prayers for the success of her mission, "and so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish" (4:16).
It's no coincidence that Esther chose to end her words on a pessimistic note. At this stage, it seems we've reached a dead end: our enemies' hand has prevailed and the extermination plans they prepared for us are advancing. Esther is sent on a mission where she will need to confront an antisemitic scoundrel for the heart of a drunken king.
It's important to remember this moment whenever we fall into national despair. Where we were on October 7 and where we are now. True, the mission hasn't been completed, but much has been achieved, both in the area of destroying our enemies and in the matter of returning our hostages. This is a long campaign containing progress alongside tactical retreats. This week a new IDF Chief of Staff enters the campaign with a different worldview regarding the use of military force against our enemies. The White House also recently welcomed a president with a different worldview on the world, the Middle East, and the relationship between Israel and its enemies. We should prepare for the second part of the Megillah.
4.
The Sabbath before Purim is called "Shabbat Zachor," because we read in it the biblical commandment to remember Amalek and to erase his memory. Amalek as an archetype for Israel-haters throughout all generations, especially the worst among them like Hitler and Haman.
On November 7, 2023, marking one month since the massacre, Tel Aviv University President Professor Ariel Porat said at a university rally: "The State of Israel has sworn to destroy the memory of Hamas. 'Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Egypt,' so we learn in the Book of Deuteronomy (25:17). And then there is the divine commandment directed at the people of Israel: 'You shall erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven, do not forget!' (25:19). This is how Hamas should be treated, and I am convinced that the State of Israel will do so. Comparing Hamas to Amalek flatters Hamas. Amalek did not do terrible things like the Hamas murderers did."
Less than a year and a half since the massacre, and it seems we've forgotten a bit. We've cooled off. The Torah describes what Amalek did: "How he met you by the way, and attacked all the stragglers behind you, when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God" (25:18). They called in the name of Allah when they raped our daughters and when they choked our babies to death and burned parents and children alive.
5.
Amalek comes by chance ("met you"), when we are not prepared, when we are captive to the conception that he prefers to improve his life economically rather than die, that we are sure he is similar to us in his considerations. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (19th Century) explains: "A chance event is an occurrence outside the calculations and expectations of the one affected by it. You were going your way and had no reason to assume an enemy would attack you. His attack came without any provocation and stemmed only from joy in human slaughter, or perhaps he felt in his heart the danger posed to him by your entry into history, for you represent the principle of pure humanity and loyalty to duty, which contradicts the principle of the sword engraved on his flag."
In other words, there is a deep abyss between us and them. Indeed, they did not succeed in realizing all their evil intentions, but their intention was clear – genocide: "to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, young and old, children, and women, in one day" (Esther 3:13).
6.
"And it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance to possess – you shall erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven; do not forget!" (Deuteronomy 25:19). Amalek seeks to destroy us, but he appears together with our hope for redemption, when we want to reach rest and inheritance in our land. He attacks us on our way from Egypt to the Promised Land; he fights against us when we apply our sovereignty over the land and crown Saul, our first king; he fights against us while we are in the Persian Empire, when the Return to Zion begins in the Second Temple period; and he carries out the final solution when the Return to Zion begins in our time. Even after the State of Israel was established, he continues to gnaw at the righteousness of our path and arouses doubts in us regarding our right to our land. And when that doesn't help, he attacks with cries of "slaughter the Jews" and massacres us.
We are at a fateful hour. Doubt gnaws at us to stop, to give up. Remember, do not forget! We must finish our mission and erase our enemies. We are in a biblical event, only in the middle of the Megillah. We will yet see the other days when "the Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor" (Esther 8:16).
