On the joyous festival of Purim we celebrate G-d’s hidden intervention to thwart the original “Final Solution” that never was. From a superficial glance, the events of Purim seem to have occurred with the aid of human intervention and clever political machinations; yet chazal understood what becomes evident when one analyzes the story with a critical eye. Despite the veneer of normalcy, none of the events relating to the Purim story make any sense. Neither the initial plunge into a period of dark hester panim (Divine concealment), nor the eventual miracle of Divine Providence brought about by our collective repentance can be explained with such superficiality. And in the historical aftermath of the Holocaust, Purim takes on a context that cannot be ignored. We can conceptualize on some level, what Haman’s nightmare decree might have looked like had he (Heaven forbid) fulfilled his genocidal ambitions. Purim was our miraculous salvation from a Persian Holocaust of the Jewish people.
Purim reflects the fullest expression of Jewish joy. And the true simcha derives not only from our survival from the terrible decree, but from our eternal belief that we remain under G-d’s providence, despite the tribulations of a long and terrible exile. Purim confirms our eternally binding covenant with The Almighty. Purim is proof that the nation of Israel lives.
On Purim day, even the wine we drink attains a higher level of sanctification. We seek clarity in a most atypical manner, as we go beyond what we would normally imbibe. Purim remains the one time each year when we abandon an aspect of our seichel, to pursue a clarity that can only be obtained in the midst of slight intoxication. Yet despite the Halachic imperative to be joyous, we need to be cognizant of Purim’s critical lessons that often get lost in a haze of intoxication and silly “Purim Torahs”:
Lesson #1: The lesson of Amalek’s persistence, and how our ancient arch-rivals arise in every generation to annihilate us. Many Jews refuse to see the enemy for who he is. The most deluded within our camps keep returning to the vomit of Arab lies and duplicity, out of a sick need to believe that there are Arab/Islamic moderates who actually want to live in peace with us. Pragmatic, politically ambitious “right-wingers” sell the mythos that most Israeli-Arabs are peaceful. And perpetuating the lie blinds Jews to the terrible truth. Amalek cannot coexist with us. Others seek artificial friendships and alliances with the leaders of Jordan and Egypt, out of the naive belief that we now have a shared enemy. They refuse to see that ISIS is not a new enemy. The atrocities that they are committing are things that we have already seen from the “moderates” of Fatah. ISIS simply represents the most “successful” and efficient expression of such barbarism. ISIS is articulating Muhammad’s original platform. And those who refuse to see the enemy, will never defeat him.
Lesson #2: The lesson of Jewish vengeance and violence against evil, and the looming Halachic requirement which asserts that one day we will destroy all manifestations of our oldest and most barbaric foe. Let us not forget that the story of Purim culminates with victorious armed battles that we waged against those who were looking forward to slaughtering the Jewish people. We killed a great many anti-Semites. This is unpleasant for the supposed humanists of our camp to accept, since they wish to grant humanity to those who deny ours. They would prefer to believe that the Torah speaks metaphorically. And of course, we have the Torah’s lesson that collective punishment is the only answer with the impossible to rehabilitate or re-educate Am Lak; a people whose desire to lap up Jewish blood reflects a terminal spiritual disease. Amalek represents those who cannot do repentance because their evil is total; both in the intensity of its expression and its pervasiveness in the society. Such lessons are articulated with somber warning in the reading of Parshat Zachor: