Purim, the Holiday to stand up and be counted

Human made tragedies are usually the design of a few with the passive acquiescence of the many. Great good is also usually inspired by the writings or vision of few great people and then carried through by the masses.

With regard evil this is very troubling. Despite the fact we know terrible evil is taking place, most people would rather get on with their lives than worry about far flung places such as Rwanda or Darfur. The fact that young girls are being tortured and publicly hung in public squares in places like Iran for alleged acts of misconduct that would be seen as trivial in the West is ignored by most people as none of their business.

I single out Iran because on the festival of Purim whose main events took place in that country 2,500 years ago. Purim, or the Feast of Lots, is a joyous holiday that recounts the saving of the Jews from a threatened massacre during the Persian period (539-330 BCE). Haman was Prime Minister to the Persian King Ahasuerus. Mordecai was the leader of the Jews who refused to bow down to Haman who wore an idol around his neck. Haman arranged for the massacre of all of the Jews throughout the massive Persian Kingdom which spanned most of the known world of the time.

With the brave help of Mordecai’s niece Ester who had risen to become the queen of Persia, Haman’s evil plot was foiled and the Jews were saved. Till this day Jews all over the world commemorate this occasion joyously by reading the story, feasting, giving charity and swapping presents of food to each other.

However, the seriousness of this story should not be lost upon us. An entire nation, the Jews, was in danger of being annihilated just because their culture was different than the prevailing norms of the time. Furthermore none of the other nations seemed to care less; it was the Jews who had to step forward to save themselves.

Unfortunately this seems to a trend even today where we have 24-hour news coverage so no one can claim ignorance and we have human right commissions, international law and a United Nations. People’s rights are abused all over the world. In the last 15 years alone from Rwanda to Darfur to Bosnia to West Papua nearly 1.5 million innocent men women and children have been killed in genocides and most people have hardly noticed. In many other areas of the world women are striped of their rights and freedom of speech is non-existent and descent is met with torture, prison or death.

The most tragic aspect to all of this is that if good people stood up to be counted they could put an end much of the death, suffering and destruction. Tragically however, it seems that it is easier to motivate people to evil acts then it is to get them to do good. The prevailing attitude seems to say that as long as it won’t affect me or my family, I do not care.
The story of Purim informs us that the actions of a few good people can foil the malevolent plans of a few wicked individuals. The Purim tale gives us hope that we can take on the devil and win.

Most importantly, however, Purim obligates us to act. If a few people can indeed make a difference for others then we have no right to sit back and do nothing when so many of our fellow human beings are suffering at the hands of a handful of tyrants. We must realize that when it comes to the suffering of others it is always our business.