MembersIt’s Purim, Our Enemies are Defeated, Rejoice!

Purim is a strange holiday, filled with mysteries that confuse and amaze us, not the least of which is the commandment to rejoice that our enemies are slaughtered!

You may recall that at the time the Jewish people were again being threatened by the likes of Nasrallah, Khamenei and Hitler, only this time his name was Haman. And when he was utterly humiliated, and his massive armies annihilated, the Jews did celebrate with revelry and abandonment.

Should we also rejoice when our enemies are defeated?

Here’s the way I see it. For 2,000 years our people have wandered about the earth in exile at the mercy of Gentile nations. We contributed enormously to science, education, economics, culture and diplomacy in all the countries where we sojourned. But still we were powerless, left to the benevolence or malevolence of kings, czars and dictators. More often than not we were denied the most basic human rights, grossly overtaxed, banished or simply massacred.

Purim tells a different story. This time, thanks to the bravery of Esther and Mordechai, we were...