Question of the Week:
It seems like antisemitism is everywhere these days, and almost becoming acceptable again. Why do so many people hate Jews? Why is antisemitism still flourishing today, even in modern society? And what can we do about it?
Answer:
The deepest analysis of antisemitism can be found in a deceptively simple Talmudic passage. It is discussing the story of Purim. And its wisdom rings true until today.
Haman was an antisemitic minister in ancient Persia who wanted to see the Jews annihilated. He approached King Achashverosh and offered to pay him a hefty sum in return for permission to fulfill his vile wish to kill the Jews. The King responded, "Keep your money and do with the Jews what you want!"
The Talmud explains the king's response with a parable:
A farmer had a problem. There was a big mound of dirt in the middle of his field. His neighbour had a different problem, he had a ditch in the middle of his field. The owner of the ditch saw the mound and thought, "I would pay money for his mound to fill my ditch." The owner of the mound thought, "I would pay money to get rid of my mound in his ditch." The two finally met, and the ditch owner asked to buy the mound. The mound owner said, "Please take it for free!"
So too, when Haman offered to pay the king to rid his kingdom of Jews, the king said go ahead! No need to pay. Achashverosh saw the Jews as a mound sticking out in his kingdom. But what Haman saw was a hollow ditch, a deep hole.
And that is the story of antisemitism.
Achashverosh and Haman represent two layers of hatred, the conscious and the subconscious. On the surface, antisemites hate Jews because they are a mound. But deep down, they hate Jews because they hate the ditch.
Antisemites make all types of contradictory statements about why they hate Jews. Jews are rich and own everything, or Jews are poor and stateless; they are religious extremists or they are secular cosmopolitans; they assimilate or they stay separate. Jew-haters say, "Go back to Israel!" and they say, "Get out of Palestine!" They say, "The Nazis should have finished the job" and they say, "The Holocaust never happened."
All of these accusations are really saying the same thing: the Jews are a mound in our field. You are in the way. You don't belong here. You are an obstacle, an eye-sore, a blot on humanity. But these are all just pretexts and excuses. None of these is the real reason for antisemitism. The true cause of antisemitism is not the mound, it is the ditch.
At their core, those who hate others actually hate themselves. Beneath their macho exterior lies a profound emptiness, a vacuous hole in their soul. They subconsciously sense that their ideology is false, their beliefs empty, their lives void of meaning. And when you are empty, you hate those who are full. When you lack meaning, you envy those who have it. And there is no people that represent higher purpose and eternal truth more than the Jewish people.
This is why there are antisemites who have never even met a Jew. It's nothing personal. Their hatred is a symptom of their anger at themselves, which they refuse to face, so they project it on an other. And the ultimate other is the Jew, the eternal Jew who has watched civilisations come and go, who has outlived all the ditch owners that tried to wipe him out.
In every generation there are evil ideologies. They take on various facades, but they share one common feature, they all hate the Jews. If you want to know which ideology is the destructive force of the age, look at the ones that embrace antisemitism. No matter how cultured and intelligent they look, at their core lies a nihilistic ditch, and they are dangerous.
So what should Jews do about antisemitism? What can anyone do about someone else's existential emptiness?
We take our cues from the Purim story. The Jews of the time, under threat of annihilation, did not become less Jewish, but more so. We don't fight emptiness by becoming more empty, and we don't make someone else's problem into our problem. In the face of irrational hate, we stay proudly and defiantly Jewish, trusting in G-d and loyal to our people.
But the Jews of Persia also took political and military measures to protect themselves. Because while we hope that all those haters will one day find some meaning to fill their void, we will not sit by and be victims of those who haven't.
Haman never filled his ditch. But he gave us Purim. And this year like every year, Jewish children will celebrate and make noise when they hear Haman's name read in the Megillah. Because we won't be swallowed into somebody else's dark ditch. We will continue to fight evil and emptiness, by filling the world with light.
Happy Purim and Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss
Sources:
Talmud Megillah 14a
The Rebbe, Sichos Kodesh Purim 5725
To subscribe click HERE
BOOK TODAY! - ONLY A FEW PLACES LEFT!
HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR PURIM SPONSORS & VOLUNTEERS
Purim Party Sponsors: Jack & Leyat Reuben, Corrie Buchanan, Adam Ensly, Libby & Ron Moss.
Care Packages Sponsors; Avi Rosencweig, Keshet Kessel, Melissa Beitner, Samantha Meguideche, Joshua Garber, Leyat Reuben, Stephen Brookes & Madeleine North.
Dessert & Hamentashen Sponsors: Parker Family in honour of the yortzheit of their late mother and grandmother, Glynnis Yutar (Gila bat Sarah) on 16 Adar- Long Life, and The Reuben Family.
L'Chaim Sponsors; Jack & Leyat Reuben, Stephen & Robyn Brookes, Madeleine North, Avi Rosencweig, Samantha Meguideche, Manon Souris & Sharron Vogel.
Volunteer Drivers: Michael Basserabie, Moshe David, Avi Rosencweig, Michelle Arcane, Dani Milner, Miri Mill, Nadine Saacks, Noach Kessel.
Catering team: Shiran Garber, Angela Meguideche, Miri Mill
Party Helpers: Karen Uziel, Manon Souris, Charlotte Ziff
Musicians: Joel Kassel, Stephen Brookes, Lance Radus
New Kiddush options at Nefesh!
Please consider sponsoring a Kiddush- we have a number of dates available in the coming weeks.
Friday Night
$120 - Basic
$200 - Deluxe
Shabbos Day
$180 - Cholent only
$350- Standard
Email office@nefesh.com.au to book your kiddush.
THIS WEEK'S PODCAST
SERVICES & COMMUNITY INFORMATION: TETZAVEH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PRIOR REGISTRATION REQUIRED TO ATTEND SHUL.
PLEASE REGISTER HERE.
Friday 26 February – 14 Adar
Candle lighting .................. 7:17pm (after 6:18pm)
Purim party followed by Shabbos Dinner & Evening Service (SOLD OUT - Registration has closed)... 6:00pm
Saturday 27 February – 15 Adar
Morning Service ...10:00am-12:20pm
Kids Program....... 10:30am
Kiddush sponsored by Israel Barukh in honour of the yartzeit of his late father Moshe Ben Barukh A"H on 17th Adar/1st March- Long Life
Shiur with Rabbi Sufrin ...6:10pm
Mincha......................... 7:10pm
Shabbos ends & Maariv ..... 8:12pm
Latest Shema this week..... 9:52am
Rabbi Moss's Shiur this week is sponsored by
MAZAL TOV
Jessica Cohen & Daniel Amzallag and their entire families on their wedding this Sunday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
David Redelman...16 Adar/Sunday 27 February
Ruth Cromer....... 17 Adar/Monday 28 February
Michael Lenn....... 18 Adar/Tuesday 29 February
Jack Reuben....... 18 Adar/Tuesday 29 February
Russell Klein....... 19 Adar/Wednesday 3 March
Karen Sher......... 20 Adar/Thursday 4 March
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Leah & David Dennes.......... 17 Adar/Monday 1 March
Alan & Bianca Hedges......... 19 Adar/Wednesday 3 March
Brandon & Deborah Rieders...... 21 Adar/Friday 5 March
LONG LIFE FOR THE FOLLOWING YORTZHEITS
Paul Ereira for his late mother Ida Ereira
Ida Bas Mordechai... 16 Adar/Sunday 28 February
Debbie Parker for her late mother Glynnis Yutar
Gila bat Sarah... 16 Adar/Sunday 28 February
Gary Lazarus for his late father Avraham
Yitzchak ben Chaim... 20 Adar/Thursday 4 March
Magda Schaffer for her late mother
Yittel bat Malka... 21 Adar /Friday 5 March
If you would like Nefesh to include your Birthday, Anniversary or Yortzheit in our newsletter and send you an email reminder, just fill in this quick ONLINE FORM.
| This email is sent from Nefesh Shul. We'd love to stay in touch with you, but if you wish to be unsubscribed from this list please click here, or click here to manage your subscriptions. | Sent via ChabadOne Communicator |
No comments:
Post a Comment