Whenever I get to read a piece of the Tanach, the Old Testament, there is always this sense of understanding, a correlation of the ancient words to the here and now of today’s Jewish existence.
Listening to the Rabbi reading the Megilah, the story of Esther, Mordechai, Haman and the rest of the clan, the similarity of this situation to current event was striking. There is something in the ancient texts that is timeless, an essence of Jewish existence that speaks to the invariant nature of the Jewish people.
We all know the story: The evil Haman wants to kills the Jews, Mordechai places his niece in a position of political power, she tricks the king into cancelling the bad edict, Haman is hanged and we all celebrate. But the story is deeper, and there are shades and colors to the events and a lesson to be learned which is beyond the traditional “They wanted to kill us, we killed them, let’s eat” Jewish story.
If we pay attention to the text, we realize that Haman did not start hating Mordechai and the Jews. He was totally indifferent, possibly not even aware that there were Jews in the kingdom. It was Mordechai’s refusal to bow to Haman that angered Haman and turned him against the entire Jewish people. Mordechai was not stupid; he understood the ways of power in Persia, and he was well aware of the latent anti-Jewish sentiments around as indicated by his instructions to Esther not to disclose that she is Jewish.
So, this brilliant Jew, did he not understand the disaster he almost brought on to his people? Could he not bow a bit to what was obviously a superior power? Could he not accommodate Haman? After all, should we not appease those who want to kill us?
The answer given by Mordechai is a resounding NO. We do not appease our foes; we do not give up our core principles and our essence and land. We abide by our morals, principles and rights, and we should be willing to fight to preserve our ability to maintain this core of existence.
Moving to our time, the message is clear. We can try to appease Gaza by withdrawing; the answer will be more rockets on Israel. We can try to appease the world by giving up parts of Jerusalem; the answer will be more terror, more Merkaz Harav massacres. By standing up for our rights and convictions, for the principle needs and morals of our nation, we do not avoid a fight. Mordechai understood that there would be trouble when he refused to bow for Haman; this is likely why he placed Esther as the king’s consort in the first place. Mordechai stood his ground, planning for the likely fight that lay ahead.
Could Mordechai avoid a fight by giving in to Haman? Accepting Haman’s superior influence and giving up his values? History tells us that this course of action is doomed to fail.
There are two main reasons for the failure of appeasement as a practical policy:
- Once you start caving in, you embolden the enemy and give the impression of running away (Chamberlain in Munich)
- When you give up your core, the fundamental things you believe in, you are bound to collapse from within.
The second danger is even worse than the first one. Giving up your spirit, bowing to Haman, robs you of what it is you live for. A nation without core values, without absolutes that can’t be compromised, is doomed to collapse. This happened in the days of the First Temple as we struggled against the acceptance of idolatry into the Temple. After all, the idol worshippers were so much stronger, we “had to” accommodate to survive, but the very accommodation is what destroyed the First Temple; the collapse came from within.
Even more obvious is what happened during the last days of the Second Temple. The nation was so torn between Jewish ways, Hellenistic accommodation and conflicting religious ideologies that the collapse came from within, fighting between Jews and some direct collaboration of Jews with the Romans that destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple.
Mordechai is addressing the same issue when he tells Esther that she can’t hide. It is good to be the queen, but even as the queen she can’t hide from the identity and core values. And how many times have we learned that lesson?
The Jews of Germany knew that they were German. They fought for Germany in WWI, they were successful, they were assimilated – yet they remained Jews and the failed to understand that led to the worst disaster in modern Jewish history. The Israeli left may pretend that the rockets do not affect them and spend their time preaching liberal ideas trying to appease the enemy; their attempt at Jewish denial is also doomed to fail. Esther could not hide, and neither can the Israeli left.
We can see the same events happening now in the US. Many of our Jewish brothers choose the illusion of love and hope for similarity of goals between Jewish causes and separatist black America. The strong Jewish support for Barack Obama is something to worry about. It is Esther living an illusion of being the lead character in the king’s harem rather than facing real facts. We have strong Jewish support for a candidate because his is an African American, completely disregarding the man’s history and known affiliations. If a white candidate was to belong to a church whose pastor cursed the US and defined all black people as evil, we would call that person racist and find his candidacy appalling. If another candidate’s wife was to say that she is only proud of America when it supports her race, we would find it objectionable. Yet, when the Jewish electorate in the US is faced with the same kind of candidate, but of a different race, everything changes. Instead of sticking to the core principles, there is this need to appease, to show that we are supportive of an African American candidate regardless of his track record and judgment. We are becoming the Esther who wanted to avoid reality, live with the girls in the harem and enjoy her once a month duty with the king. Mordechai presented Esther with reality; she had to make the choice to support her people. It is time we, the US Jewish community, come to the same realization.
As Americans, we support our country and should use the ancient knowledge of the Megilah. We have to understand that America can’t run away and appease the opponent. We must stand on our American principles and defend our country and leadership position in the world.
As Jews, we need to support the realization of our dream, the state of Israel. We should not allow the desire to be “nice,” to appease our neighbors, our colleagues in academia who feel so outraged when a Jew dares defend himself. We have to cut through the need to appease, the illusions that we are part of the “oppressed brotherhood” and focus on the key to our unique existence and the survival of Judaism, culminating in the establishment of the state of Israel after 2000 years in the Diaspora.
Mordechai and Esther fought and won the right for Jewish self defense. In this country, we exercise our right to self defense in the ballot, in Israel the struggle for this right is a physical one. In both countries Jews have to maintain a clear vision of where we came from, what our heritage teaches us about appeasement and what the real values and goals in our national and religious existence truly are.
