Dateline Jerusalem — This week we celebrated Purim, a holiday of fun, rejoicing. Most importantly, though, is remembering history and thanking G-d for all the miracles He gave Jews in dire times. In Israel, the entire country revels in the happiness of the festive mood against the backdrop of a Mardi Gras-like atmosphere. Cars with loudspeakers blaring Israeli music drive up and down neighborhoods. Singing and dancing in the streets, firecrackers, flags and banners. Children and adults wear flashy, colorful costumes while roaming the streets enjoying the celebration. Some wear masks to “hide” their identities and faces, symbolic of the heroine of the holiday, Queen Esther, who hid her Jewish identity. It is like Halloween only with treats, no tricks.
We fill our stomachs with delectable hamantaschen (Yiddish for the villain Haman’s pockets) or Ozaei Haman (Hebrew for Haman’s ears), triangular pastries of poppy seeds, dried fruit jams, or assorted other fillings. We also get a sugar high from mishloach manot, baskets of candy and cookies, wine and grape juice, fresh fruit, and other ready- to-eat foods we are commanded to give each other. First we sit in synagogue shaking groggers and other loud noisemakers, shouting “Boo” and stomping our feet every time the name of the evil Haman is mentioned when the Scroll of Esther is read. Later we gorge ourselves on food and drink at a festive meal (seudat) with family and friends.
The Religious Side
Purim is not all fun and games, though. We are required to fast during the day prior to the holiday, give charity to the needy, and pray. With fasting and prayer, Jews today hope for G-d’s intervention in preventing the annihilation of Jews. For the holiday of Purim (that ended last night) is observed to commemorate the time in ancient Persia (Iran of today) when a Jewish woman named Esther and her uncle Mordecai were the heroes of the day. Esther’s husband was King Ahasueros, and Esther hid her Jewish identity from him. But his evil vizier, the wicked Haman, tried to annihilate all the Jews in one day. The Hebrew word “Purim” means “lots,” as in drawing lots. Haman cast lots to determine the day in which he would exterminate all the Jews of the Persian Empire. When Esther learned of Haman’s plan she asked Mordecai to inform all the Jews to fast and pray. Then Esther came out of hiding and told the king that she was a Jew. He could not change his original decree but issued another allowing the Jews to defend themselves. Esther also asked her husband, the king, to decree that Haman and his sons be hanged on the same gallows that Haman had prepared for the hanging of Mordecai.
Just like other Jewish holidays, there is abundant symbolism. As with most Jewish holidays, the age-old Jewish saying, “We were persecuted, we won, let’s eat,” is apt for the occasion. As Esther hid her Jewishness from the king, Purim involves hidden meanings. Although the biblical Scroll of Esther does not mention G-d, it alludes to His miracles and divine intervention, that hidden behind the survival of the Jews was the hand of G-d. Even the symbolic foods eaten for the holiday, like the triangular shaped pastries of hamantaschen, have hidden fillings. Kreplach, a ravioli or won ton- type dough, is filled with meat or potatoes hidden inside them.
You Can Say That Again
It is said that history repeats itself. Until Hitler came to power in the 1930s, Iran was called Persia. The Shah changed the name to Iran, which means “Aryan” in Farsi, the language of Persia and Iran, because he was fascinated by Hitler and the concept of an Aryan race. Just as 10 of Haman’s sons were hanged for their participation in the attempt to wipe out the Jewish people in Queen Esther’s day, 10 of Hitler’s top men were hanged during the Nuremberg war crime trials for their participation in the extermination of 6 million Jews. On his way to the gallows, Julius Streicher shouted “Purim Fest 1946!” Then in 1953, Stalin planned to deport the Jews of the Soviet Union to Siberia, but Stalin suffered a stroke the night before, on March 1. The plan never was carried out. What is the significance of that date? In 1953, Purim fell on March 1.
Therefore, the observance of Purim is of significance today. Iran is the Persia of today. Iran’s nuclear threat to Israel, and to the world, cannot be ignored. Not only has Iran openly stated its intention to exterminate Israel, it has actively supported the murder and maiming of Israeli civilians with weaponry and financial aid to Israel’s enemies. Iran recently claimed to have test fired two ballistic missiles with “Israel must be wiped out” written in Hebrew on them. Within the past month, Iran promised a reward of $7,000 to each of the families of Palestinian terrorists involved in attacks against Israelis in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and of the current “Jerusalem Intifada.”
Israelis know that something must be done to stop a nuclear Iran, the Haman of today. The brave heroine Queen Esther risked her life to confront Haman in her day. In our day, world leaders have taken the naïve and cowardly route of a Neville Chamberlain appeasement with Iran. Unfortunately, the world has learned nothing from history. We in Israel know that history repeats itself. In 1905, Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In 1935, Winston Churchill said, “When the situation was manageable it was neglected. Now that it is thoroughly out of hand, we apply too late the remedies which then might have effected a cure.”
L’hitraot. Shachar