Most contemporary liberal siddurim have emended the wording of the brutal force of Haman ’ s scheme and / or the punishment he and his sons received either in the Hebrew , the English translation , or both .
The world has in the past , and does today , contain hostile enemies of the Jewish people . It seems to me that there is nothing wrong with celebrating the rescue of our people from an implacable enemy – whether or not the Purim story represents historical fact . The Jewish people have been subject to many , many attacks over the centuries during our long historical experience as a minority culture hosted by majority cultures . I do , however , find myself identifying with the discomfort of contemporary , non-Orthodox , siddurim which have modified the harsh language of Haman ’ s plans at the beginning of this prayer because it is so provocative . It is the kind of language that can , and I think has , perpetuated an unhealthy Jewish national obsession with our victimhood .
Similarly , I understand the motivation to alter the language of retribution at the conclusion of Al HaNissim . Elliott Horowitz has traced the central role that retribution has played in Jewish religious poetry and commentary on the holiday of Purim as well as to Jewish anti-gentile violence that happened occasionally as a result . 44 I am comforted with Al HaNissim declaring that God “ disrupted ( Haman ’ s ) plans ,” but I am uncomfortable crowing that , “ He and his sons were hanged on the gallows .” Do we really want to promote such revenge in our prayers ? And however common it might have been in ancient times to take vengeance on the otherwise innocent children of our enemies , I cringe at the image of the hanging of Haman ’ s ten sons . The Scroll of Esther says nothing of their role in their father ’ s murderous plot . For me , therefore , the modifications of Al HaNissim by the non-Orthodox prayer
44
Ellio < Horowitz , Reckless Rites : Purim and the Legacy of Jewish Violence ( Princeton and Oxford : Princeton University Press , 2006 ).
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