Stuart Halpern
WSJ, Mar. 21, 2024
“Purim’s story reminds its readers that though what the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks called the “dignity of difference” might be intolerable for some, pride in Jewish particularism serves as the wellspring of salvation.”
Jews have always been a biblically minded people, but this year one ancient story feels tragically resonant.
Synagogues around the world on Saturday evening will celebrate Purim by reading the Book of Esther. The text describes how during the fifth century B.C., Haman, the evil vizier and adviser to the king of Persia, spurred a decree “to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women.”
The victims of Oct. 7—at the hands of Hamas and backed by today’s Persians, the Iranians—include 9-month-old Kfir Bibas and his 4-year-old brother, Ariel, kidnapped with their parents from Kibbutz Nir Oz; hundreds of young dancers slaughtered at the Tribe of Nova music festival; and Holocaust survivor Moshe Ridler, a 91-year-old murdered in Kibbutz Holit.
The traditional Jewish joke that the origin of our holiday’s festive meal can be explained by the adage, “They tried to kill us, they failed, let’s eat!” seems wistfully outdated. We are now more inclined to fast than to feast.
In Israel, preparations for Purim have taken on a character reflective of a country where a cafe blown up by terrorists on Monday reopens by Wednesday. The traditional triangular pastries known as hamantaschen are called oznei Haman, or “ears of Haman.” Local bakeries have recast them as “ears of Sinwar,” Hamas’s leader in Gaza.
A longstanding custom, which captures the desire to stomp out the memory of the evil Haman, is for synagogue-goers to stomp their feet and shake noisemakers known as graggers at each mention of his name as the scroll is read. A Los Angeles-based stand-up comedian who recently performed a charity set to benefit terror victims’ families quipped:
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