Zachor 5785

This Shabbat, the Sabbath prior to Purim, we read as part of our Torah reading (maftir) the section known as Parashat Zachor.

Zachor, remember, what the Amalekite nation attempted to do as the fledgling nation of Hebrews had just escaped from Pharoah and the Egyptians. Zachor, remember, how they ambushed the Children of Israel as they began their journey through the desert.

Zachor, remember, states the passage, v’al tishkach, and do not forget. Why? History seems to repeat itself.

Zachor, remember, has been the word that we have used to not only remind ourselves, but also the world of the atrocities of the Shoah, the Holocaust.

Zachor, remember, keeps us mindful of October 7th and the fifty-nine hostages that still remain captive in Gaza, held by deplorable terrorists in deplorable conditions.

Our own Hazzan Ruth Ross wrote a most wonderful article in the Academy of Jewish Religion’s recent publication for Purim: An Upside-Down World: Esther and Antisemitism. Hazzan Ross had given me permission to share it with you as we celebrate both Shabbat Zachor and Purim. Her message is an important warning why we still today need to unfortunately read Parashat Zachor. It follows below.

I hope you will join us both this Shabbat at services as well as at our community-wide Purim program this Thursday evening at Temple Emanu-El.

Am Yisrael Chai.

Bring them home now!!!

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi K

THE CRITICAL MESSAGE

Hazzan Ruth Ross

Megillat Esther is not my favorite book. Particularly in the wake of October 7, I am uncomfortable with the way the story uses Esther’s kidnapping, and installment as a sex slave in the king’s palace as a “humorous” plot device, no matter how luxurious the surroundings. I never found that amusing and I find it less so now. The fact that she “wins” the contest and becomes queen doesn’t make it any better.

I am mystified by Mordechai’s behavior. The text tells us that Mordechai, her uncle/cousin (there is a dispute – don’t ask), thinks of her as his daughter. What kind of man sends the young woman he thinks of as a daughter off to such a fate with only the caution to keep her religion secret? There is no other indication he tries to protect her. In this context, I find it difficult to sing Baruch Mordechai HaYehudi, Blessed is Mordechai the Jew.

But mostly, the megillah is not on my list of Top Ten Jewish Tales because I have always favored stories that depict character growth. Megillat Esther is composed of stock characters and their roles are static by their very nature. Even Esther’s discovery that she has the ability to outwit Haman is more of a plot twist than it is a moral epiphany.

But this year, I find myself drawn to a specific scene in the megillah. The evil vizier, Haman, has convinced King Ahasuerus to order the citizens of Persia to slaughter their Jewish neighbors on the fifteenth of Adar. Mordechai sends Esther a message telling her she must go to the king to plead for her peoples’ lives.

Esther protests, “It’s common knowledge that any person who approaches the king uninvited will be killed. The only exception to the rule is if the king decides he wishes to spare that person. And I have not been called to come to the king for the last thirty days.”

Mordechai responds, “If you don’t step up now, the Jewish community will find a way to survive without your help. But you will perish. Don’t kid yourself that as a hidden Jew, even as queen, you will be safe in the palace.”

We know how this ends in the megillah. Esther uses her wits and her courage to outwit her nemesis and to save the Jewish people. It’s an over-the-top story laced with bawdy good humor.

But the real-life megillah we are living today feels pretty scary and much less humorous.

Worldwide, we are witnessing a rise of incidents of antisemitism, of hateful language, of hidden antisemitism under the guise of anti-Zionism. Many American Jews are beginning to question their long-held belief in the United States as a place for Jews to live safely.

It is frightening to realize that our decades of building a place for ourselves in the non-Jewish world may also not be enough of a bulwark to protect us from Jew hatred.

Esther’s response to Mordechai is indirect. She calls for a three day fast for all the Jews in Shushan. We know from an earlier verse they were already fasting. Surely, Esther would have known this too. But she requests it anyway. What Esther is looking for here, before she takes the leap, is a sense of solidarity with her community. She needs to know that even though she has in some senses rejected them by keeping her identity as a Jew secret, her fellow Jews still consider her a member of the tribe.

I can’t think of a more critical message for our time and place this Purim. Mordechai is right. The Jewish community will find a way to survive.

But Esther is also right. That survival is predicated on knowing that we are all part of this fight – born Jews, Jews who came to us in love, Jews who are observant, Jews who are not observant, non-Jews who love Jews, any human being who believes in the tenets we hold dear. Each of us may be walking into the king’s courtyard now, but not one of us is doing so alone.