פְֹ֣נ
well , just part of this hilarious story . But since October 7 , it ’ s a lot less funny . Even if it is with grim and terrible justification , Jews have been “[ striking ] at their enemies with the sword , slaying and destroying ,” and so ( at least for me ) the humor in the story dissolves k ’ anan ya ’ uf – like a dissipating cloud .
I don ’ t mean to draw a comparison between chapter 9 of Esther and the destruction in Gaza . What ’ s animating my own instinct to “ tone Purim down ” is , as much as anything , a Jewish ethic around violence that we may be forced to perpetrate , or which is perpetrated on our behalf . The wellknown adage from Sefer Mishlei – the Book of Proverbs ( 24:17 ) – tells us ִבּ ל א֭ וֹיִ בְ / אַ ל ־ תִּ שְׂ מָ ֑ ח “ do not rejoice at the downfall of your enemy ,” and indeed , the tradition supports this ethic . `
Before Purim of 2024 , some leading Jewish figures invited people across the Jewish world to reimagine chapter 9 . One imagined Queen Esther quashing the call for revenge by crying , “ What will stop the cycle of blood ?” Another changed little , but placed all the violence in a dream of Mordechai ’ s – a dream he wakes up from . Some chose to read the chapter in an undertone , or to dim the lights , or to otherwise mark a sense of shame and mortification .
But for me , these well-meaning fan-fiction alterations and other symbolic acts miss the point . “ There is a certain people ,” Haman says to the king in chapter three ,
“… scattered and dispersed among the other peoples ... whose laws are different ... and who do not obey the king ’ s laws ; and it is not in Your Majesty ’ s interest to tolerate them .”
The Scroll of Esther is presented from the perspective of a people who are an oppressed and vulnerable sub-class , as we have been through much , indeed most , of our history . So yes ,
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