As a kid in Jewish day school, I remember learning a lively ditty for the first line of the Story of Esther, which is read on Purim. “It happened in the days of Ahasuerus—that Ahasuerus who reigned over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Nubia.”
Ahasuerus, or Ahasvererosh, as his name is pronounced in Hebrew is the seemingly clownish, party-hardy Persian king of the Purim story. He hosts multi-day bacchanals, oversees an extensive harem and lets his empire be run by an ambitious underling, Haman, who almost succeeds in destroying the Jewish people living in the Persian Empire. What else did Haman do at the behest of the king to others in the empire? We don’t hear that part of the story…
Rabbi Adin Steinshaltz, in his introduction to Book of Esther notes that Ahashverosh is treated mildly in the Book of Esther, “…despite his role as one of the central figures in the attempted annihilation of the Jews. Although it is possible to detect unflattering undercurrents with regard to the king, there is not one word of direct criticism of Ahashverosh explicitly stated in the text.”
By comparison, I found this modern kid-gloves-off translation, with inserted commentary from The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein. “And it was in the days of Achashverosh [(a king of Paras, who ruled under Koresh at the end of seventy years of the Babylonian exile)]; he is Achashverosh [i.e., he persists in his evil from beginning to end]. He rules [(in his own right, not being of the royal seed)] from Hodu to Kush, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces [i.e., just as he reigned (with "tight" authority) from Hodu to Kush, which were right next to each other, so he ruled over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces.)]
If Ahasversosh is really evil, along with bad-guy, Haman, then he’s just another name and incident in a long line of stories of near destruction and worse of the Jewish people. Yes, in this case, the Jews fought back and survived, living to celebrate, eat hamentashen, and tell their story but it is of course deeply unsettling to think of the long shadow of hatred cast on the Jews that takes us forward to 2024.
I know, I know. We deserve it. We’re colonizers, oppressors, and imperialists, and only want to kill our neighbors, the Gazans. (That we’re killing some Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists doesn’t seem to bother enough people, along with the knowledge that they keep lobbing anti-tank missiles and and more across Israel’s Northern border.)
Those set of accusations are not just reserved for Israel alone, but for Jews living outside of Israel as well. The demonstrations that have erupted worldwide since October 7th, have included Jews in attendance as well. Jews who feel the the stain and the taint of Israel’s actions. It’s too much for them to manage or even negotiate, especially for those who identify with what they call a liberal-progressive ideology, whatever that really means anymore. (After the horror that was inflicted on Moscovians on Friday night, I wondered will people be upset enough about ISIS - yet another terrorist group with connections to Iran - but then I thought about the sticker seen and shared on Instagram, “Rape is Resistance,” with the tag line “Free Palestine by Any Means Necessary,” or the 2nd sticker seen, “Babies are Occupiers Too.”)
One friend’s Gen-Z child, who has been opposed to Israel’s actions since the beginning, and has been to Israel many times, shared that Israel shouldn’t act on their behalf as a Jew, that they don’t agree with Israel’s warmongering. Another friend’s child who lived here in early adulthood wrote about their personal reckoning with Zionism and anti-Zionism, and what they now understand is “a lifelong erasure of the Palestinian narrative.” They acknowledge that “there is a place for serious discussion over the future of Israel as a Jewish state and the implications for the Palestinian people” but that the current government’s genocidal actions, embedded in a history of apartheid and occupation, make that impossible. (Yes, there’s so much work that needs to be done domestically in order to create a more equal and equitable society for Arabs, and that includes rethinking our attitudes let alone our laws - read this important but difficult post from Friday, March 22nd. But it will take education on both sides of course, especially in this post October 7th world)
How are young people who've rejected Israel and her actions post October 7th marking Purim this year, if at all? Are they reading the story and considering its connections to a Jewish history marked by anti-semitism and destruction. I know, it’s not a legacy we like to think about, certainly not if you’re a young adult living a “destruction-free-lifestyle” in a world where you can live that life.
I was curious about how caring for Israel has been measured in the Jewish community in the past. “In a 2019-2020 Pew Research Center survey, 82% of Jewish adults in the United States said caring about Israel is an essential or important part of what being Jewish means to them. Roughly six-in-ten said they have a lot or some in common with Jews in Israel (60%), that they are very or somewhat emotionally attached to Israel (58%), and that they follow news about Israel very or somewhat closely (57%).”
What stats would we discover now about caring for Israel and engagement throughout the Jewish community after October 7th? In the Pew study, only 45% of American polled have been to Israel at one point in their lives…and yet, of the many American 20-somethings whom I know who are currently struggling with Israel, all have been to Israel, most of them more than once.
I wondered about that comment, “Don’t do this - make war in Gaza - on my behalf.” What about the greater Jewish problem, which they, young, Jewish and liberal-progressive in the US, which they try and push away, or pretend it doesn’t exist? That is to say, that they are Jewish and have to deal with the standard tropes of anti-semitic rhetoric about Jews - we have been too successful and consequently control the government, the money, and therefore…the world. (I took a look at the richest people in the world but thankfully, Jeff Bezos is at the top, with Elon Musk and the Walton Family (of the original Walmart founder) after him. On a list of the richest Jews, Marc Zuckerberg is #7, well below Sergey Brin and Michael Bloomberg.)
Do they think that taking on the Free Palestine movement will keep them safe from anti-Jewish and anti-Western sentiment? Just like those ISIS terrorists in Moscow, or on 9/11, or in other places where civilians have been mowed down by those who want to make a point about their hatred of the Western lifestyle, something that the Iranians and the Afghanis have been so good at fomenting with their followers.
On Shabbat, over tea with a friend, we both admitted our intense fatigue with everything that has played out, and our wish that the government would show us that the have thought through a plan for not just rebuilding and rehabbing Gaza but for moving towards peace in the region. Maybe we’re fooling ourselves we wondered, especially with the hostages still stuck, still held - not just by Hamas but by families - in Gaza. If “Babies are Occupiers Too,” and it’s all fine to hold babies hostage in the name of Free Palestine, then what are we left with 170 days later?
Today it’s Purim outside of Jerusalem. Meanwhile, IDF soldiers The Israel Defense Forces identified and detained close to 500 Hamas terror group members hiding at Shifa hospital. How long has it been since they left Shifa before Hamas regrouped? And on this day, Sgt. First Class Lior Raviv will be buried - he was killed during the operation at Shifa.
At Shabbat dinner, a friend said that when her eldest son, now 30, was born, she said to a friend, “He won’t have to serve as a soldier - surely there will be peace.” Her son, a father of 3, his youngest was born during his reserve duty this past fall, has spent many days away from his family. She added that when her youngest was born, he’s now 16, she knew better than to imagine that he won’t have to be a soldier.
Purim Sameach. Happy Purim.
O how I love your Nathan Detroit! He was perfect!
It is agony the disaffection disconnectedness and hypocritical stances taken by Jews, many young Jews! It
seems increasingly clear to me that it comes from the pampered individualism cultivated in the US starting with my own generation of boomers, no matter religuon or ethnic group but more intensified for ours given the Holocaust andva chance to start anew in a safe country unlike the similar generation in Israel thst didnt have that luxury.Be what you
want to be! You can do anything! This kind of inbred narcissism has been a great flaw in US Judaism. Judaism is balance
In the case to connect with Israel it needs to be a sense of self determination combined with community and cooperation. That has only become more fragmented here
which is leaving much chaos and confusion and honestly in my mind a decayed sense of values about what it means to have any kind of loyalty to our heritage, our history. Our people. It will hopefully change for the better but it certainly is in a transition of some kind right now.