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Jewish World Review March 28, 2000 / 21 Adar II, 5760
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
NO TOO MANY YEARS AGO, shul was a war zone.
Cleaning crews needed to be
called in to put the sanctuary back in order. There were burn marks on the
carpet, gooey stuff hung from the florescent fixtures, remnants of cherry
bomb detonations were every where. Those who didn't utilize incendiary
devices used musical noise makers, fog horns, pieces of heavy medal rock and
more. And them there were the traditional "grogers" in which we imagined him
trapped by his neck feeling anguish and pain for the ill designs he held for
ancient Jews in Persia many years ago.
This is the way we used to punish Haman, the evil Jew-hater who managed
to fleetingly incur the favor of King Achasverush, getting him to agree to
endorse the eradication of all the Jews who resided in his kingdom. Some say
his kingdom extended throughout the entire world which would have qualified
the effort as an ancient Holocaust.
How did the Jews of ancient Persia deal with those who had designs on
obliterating the Jewish people from the face of the earth? Well, as you
know, they hung Haman and his ten sons from gallows that were originally
intended for Mordechai and his associates. In addition the Jews throughout
the provinces ruled by King Achishverosh killed as many as 75,000 followers
of Haman, people who were prepared to heed Haman's call to murder Jews,
children and adults, women and children.
Today, even though we are required to view the Purim events from a
contemporary perspective, our reactions and responses bear no relation, it
seems, to the way Jews we responded to these events 2,000 years ago or, for
that matter, twenty years ago.
Like I said up atop of this page --- shul used to be a war zone. Haman
wanted war so let's give him a war. But now Purim is a kinder and gentler
observance than what it once was and intended to be. Today our shuls are
concerned about the carpeting, the wallpaper, the lighting fixtures, the
stained glass windows, our children resorting to violence to settle a score
with cap guns or cherry bombs or other simulated versions of armaments. I
suppose that the likelihood of one of our peers of our childhood really
throwing a bomb into shul was less likely then than it is today.
And then there is the noise that used to be the whole idea behind the Purim
spectaculars of yesteryear. It used to be that the noisier we used to be the
more we were signaling the Higher Realms how we really felt about Haman and
his evil designs. More noise was more better. But not anymore. This past
year in shul, the noisemaking at the mention of the wicked Haman was
lethargic. It was like Purim in a senior citizen center. It wouldn't have
surprised if they brought out hot water and prune juice for us following the
Megilla reading.
Is it a wonder that we are tired of knocking ourselves out preparing
noise contraptions to zap Haman with? Aren't negotiations and appeasement
much more civil? I mean did we really have to leave Egypt 3,300 years ago,
dash through a parting sea and wander in the desert for so long? Couldn't we
talk about it and cut a better
A Kinder, Gentler Haman?
By Arye Leib Gordon
So each year we celebrate the divine salvation of our people as
prescribed in the Megila. On the subject of the story detailed in the
Megilla we are told that according to Jewish law someone who reads the
Megilla in reverse, or its chapters out of order, has not fulfilled the
requirement to read or hear the Megilla on Purim. On this more contemporary
commentators say that does not just refer to someone who reads the chapters
in reverse or out of order. Rather, if someone sees the events of Purim as
something of an ancient historic nature and not something with relevance to
today than he or she is not observing the holiday properly.
As a child, and even later , I remember shul literally being rigged for
Purim. There were stockpiles of simulated bombs, smoking guns, artificial
ammunition, loud speakers prepared to blast annoying and almost torturous
music all in an effort to adequately express how we feel about Haman, a
descendent of Amalek and his contemporary ancestors. Today, weeks before
Purim we receive letters in the mail from shul committees warning parents
about what our children may and may not bring into shul on Purim to deliver
Haman his just due.
The so-called quiet noise of these past few Purims should not come as a
shock to anyone. Perhaps the memo's from shuls discouraging cap guns and
noisemakers is just a symptom of the new Jewish attitude toward our former
and even modern day enemies. In Israel, no matter how enemies of the Jews
continue to spew venom at us we no longer have the energy or desire to
reciprocate in kind. The mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Sabri, tells the news
that six million Jews did not die in the Holocaust, that the numbers are
exaggerated, that even if some Jews died in the Holocaust its not his problem
because he or his people didn't do it. He tells the news media that of
course Hitler hated the Jews and then follows that up with ---"everyone hates
them anyway." And the Israeli response is to try to figure how to deliver
more of Jerusalem into Sheik Sabri's religious jurisdiction.
JWR contributor Arye Leib Gordon writes from Long Island. Comment by clicking here.
