There’s a Midrash (external story to the written text) that says when King Achashverosh asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and which one is he, that has the audacity to do such a thing?” referring to the plot to kill the Jews, Queen Esther pointed her finger back at the King, and said, “A man who is a persecutor and an enemy.”
The Midrash says that an angel then pushed her hand away from the king to point it at Haman and, realizing what she had done, Esther continued, now pointing at Haman: “This evil man, Haman!”
Former Chief Rabbi Rabbi Yisrael Lau cited the above Midrash in an appearance on a Kol Yisrael radio Friday afternoon news show. He said that sometimes we can’t say out loud who the real enemy and the real persecutor actually is. You start to point your finger, and you realize that the target is too dangerous.
This is, for instance, why a Torah portion dealing with the great, evil wizard Bala’am is named after the weakling king Balak who merely hired his services.
Likewise, these days, the Rabbi continued, we point our finger at Iran, accusing it of plotting to kill all the Jews. Because we can’t afford to point our finger at the true culprit.
And then, the good Rabbi concluded with the quip: “V’hamevin yavin.” Meaning, if you get what I mean, fine, if not – ask someone…
