There is a quote attributed to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” This week I read two op-eds about Purim and the war in Gaza. Each of them, in my opinion, is guilty of the entitlement to their own facts.
One op-ed expresses a discomfort with the extent of “unjustified” killing at the end of the story resulting in the deaths of 75,800 citizens of the Persian Empire. Esther appeals to the king to avoid calls for a cease-fire, resulting in the killing of the last 300 people in Shushan on the second day of fighting. The author then goes on about how this applies to the war in Gaza.
(I can just imagine the 21st century style media reports of that event. “The Aggagite health ministry reports 75,800 deaths, mostly women and children. This is a disproportionate response, when on the Jewish side not a single death is reported.”)
The second op-ed expresses a discomfort with the enactment of a jubilant celebration following the killing of said enemies. The author then goes on to invoke one the most oft misappropriated Midrashic teachings, that when the Egyptians were drowning in the Red Sea, G-d rebuked the angels for singing praise for their destruction saying, “My handiwork is drowning in the sea, and you are singing praise?” This Midrash, says the author, is a Rabbinic criticism of Moses and the people of Israel for rejoicing over their enemies’ destruction. While this op-ed is more nuanced in opining that the Jews of the Persian empire practiced self-restraint, it is still critical of the celebration that followed. The author then goes on to compare it to the war in Gaza.
The comparison of the three instances (Egypt, Persia, Hamas) is apt in that they demonstrate the degree of senseless hatred toward the Jewish people, resulting in fruitless attempts to destroy us.
The Egyptians had just been decimated by the 10 plagues. Yet, they somehow thought it was a good idea to chase the Israelites. What were they thinking? Did they really believe that the G-d Who wrought the plagues upon them would be caught napping at the Red Sea? Yet their hatred for the Israelites overpowered their common sense.
The Persian loyalists to Haman, should have known that they were destined for destruction after seeing what happened to their leader, Haman, and how the king gave the Jews permission to defend themselves. Yet they persisted in taking up arms against the Jews on the day designated by Haman months earlier, because their hatred for the Jews overpowered their common sense.
Hamas knew that they were waking a sleeping giant with the October 7 attack. Yet their hatred for the Jews outweighs their concern for their own people, as is evidenced by their endemic use of civilian shields.
In reality, the Purim story is an excellent lesson on how to deal with those who wish to harm us. The 75,800 casualties were Haman loyalists who were determined to attack the Jews come what may and were killed in an act of self-defense. Had they not been eliminated; they would keep coming back to attack over and over again. Considering that the Persian Empire had 127 provinces, spanning from India to Africa, 75,800 casualties is a small number. It represented only those combatants who took up arms against the Jews. Even those last 300 in Shushan were of that ilk, which is why they needed to be eliminated. Copy and paste to Gaza.
With respect to the Midrashic criticism of singing praise over the destruction of the enemy applying to Moses and the Jewish people, nothing could be further from the truth. The Song of the Sea that the Israelites sang that day, serves as a central part of our daily prayers, and is read in the Torah every year on the anniversary of the event, the seventh of Passover. The Israelites, and for the matter the Jews of Persia, were not celebrating the downfall of their enemies, but rather the elimination of the threat against them through G-d’s salvation. Copy and paste to Gaza.
We hold ourselves to a higher standard, as we should. But that should not be allowed to evolve into “alternative facts” influencing the critical decision making process.
May G-d bless and protect us all and put an end to this threat against our people, thereby eliminating the potential of any further unnecessary civilian deaths. May He Who makes peace on high, bring peace to us and to all Israel, and let us say Amen.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin