By: Efrayim Zaghi

Purim is one of the most fascinating times of the year as it celebrates an event that the Jewish people will cherish in memory forever. Although it is a fantastic story that will have you on your seat to the end of the reading, it has many uncovered and unique insights that teach us so much about the nature of the Jewish people and anti-Semitism in the modern world. 

The two main antagonists of this incredible story are Achasverosh, the Persian King, and Haman, the King’s head advisor. A common misconception is that only Haman had genuine hatred for the Jews, and Achashverosh was only a pawn in a chess game between him and Esther; however, that is not the case, as hatred for the Jews had already been brewing in Achasverosh’s heart from before Haman came into power. The nature of Achashverosh’s hatred is best shown in Esther 3:8-11:

(8) Then Haman said to King Achashverosh, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. (9) If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”

(10) So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. (11) “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

Achashverosh’s willingness to go along with the complete genocide of a nation and indifference to the number of people who would die because of this command shows the intense hatred he harbors towards the Jewish people. Furthermore, Achashverosh was so eager to go along with such a plan that he did not just make the decree himself but gave his ring to Haman so that Haman could make any other rule on the Jewish people. Achasverosh also refused to take Haman’s bribe of ten thousand silver talents (roughly $161,000,000 in today’s money), essentially giving that power to Haman for free since annihilating the Jews through Haman’s decree would be of excellent service to him as well. Achashverosh viewed Haman’s actions as a so-called favor which is why Achashverosh never objected to Haman’s desire.

Having shown Achasverosh’s stark hatred for the Jews, we must ask a crucial question: Why did Achashverosh and Haman hate the Jews so much? The truth is that Haman and Achashverosh had completely different reasons for hating the Jews. Haman felt hatred toward the Jews since he saw them as filthy scum of the earth with an overall worth so low that the world would be a better place without them. Achashverosh hated the Jews for their prosperity and their good performance in every endeavor, threatening the legitimacy of the Persian empire. These two opposing ideologies and this part of the story can be explained with a Mashal (parable). Once, two neighboring farmers had difficulty growing crops due to an obstruction in each field. One farmer had a hill in his field, and the other farmer had a hole in his field. After some time, neither of them found a solution to their problem, so the farmer with a hole in his field said, “Here, take some of this money, and in exchange, I get to come to your field and take some dirt from that hill into my hole.” The other farmer graciously denied the money but begged him to take away the hill for both their sakes. 

This parable also describes the two approaches to anti-Semitism that Jews face all around the world. The first approach from the Jews is to attempt to assimilate, but the other nations simply despise them even more than before; they become the hole in the parable. The other way Jews try to overcome anti-Semitism is by reminding other countries of the contributions they have made over the ages to the arts, such as Math and Science. This only reminds the other nations of the hill of debt that our enemies would be glad to eliminate from their handbooks. The failure of the only two logical approaches to anti-Semitism leaves only one more choice: Teshuva (repentance) to God. The usage of Teshuva is also shown in the Megillah since once the Jews found out that Haman had the signet ring, they knew there was no coming back, and Mordechai made a three-day fast to repent to God for any sin that may have caused this. The Gemara says this about the Jews discovering Haman’s possession of a signet ring:

“Greater was the effect of the king removing his ring (Ahashverosh empowering Haman) than the effect of the forty-eight prophets and the seven prophetesses who had prophesied for Israel — because the rebuke from the prophets did not return the Jewish People to repent for the good, whereas the ‘removal of the ring’ succeeded in helping them repent for the good.”               (Talmud, Tractate Megilla 14a)

Clearly, the only way to receive forgiveness for our actions and become on good terms with other nations is to repent to God, not try to assimilate or impress the Gentiles. 

In the end, this threat did work, as seen in the success and happy ending of the thrilling Purim story. I felt that this idea encompasses the overall message of Purim. The only way we can earn favor in the eyes of others and become closer to reaching redemption is through Teshuva; no other way or person can help us otherwise. 

Be’ezrat Hashem, may we become closer to God through our repentance, and Mashiach should come soon. Amen.