Page 3 - HaMizrachi #27 Purim USA 2021

TORAT MIZRACHI
TORAT MIZRACHI

Rabbi Doron Perez

Persia and Purim,

Iran and Israel

MORDECHAI AND THE NEED FOR MORAL CLARITY

bsolute evil has existed for last minute. Thousands of years later, two remarkable points which highlight
millennia. It constitutes a sin- Hitler declared the same intentions. Amalek’s pursuit of evil:
Agle-minded, systematic focus to Tragically, he succeeded in murdering
destroy all good in the world. Accord- one third of the Jewish people, and if not “How he happened upon you on the
ing to Torah tradition, it has a name. for the hand of Providence guiding the way and cut off all the stragglers at your
Amalek. The Torah commands us to actions of the Allied Forces, he would rear, when you were faint and weary,
always remember and never forget what have gone much further. Unstopped and and he did not fear G-d” (Deuteronomy
Amalek represents. 1 unchecked, this type of evil would, G-d 25:17–19).
This is the essence of Parashat Zachor. forbid, destroy every last Jew wherever Firstly, there is no stated motive for
Our Sages instituted an annual public they are. this attack. Amalek was not motivated
Torah reading on the Shabbat preceding by any normative political or military
Purim, lest we forget Amalek’s role in The Perennial Battle reasoning. Theirs was not a battle over
world affairs. The saga of the most infa- Even though Amalek no longer exists land or religion nor a war of defense,
mous Amalekite, Haman, at the heart of as a nation, it most certainly exists deterrence or display of regional power.
the Megillah, is a sobering reminder of as an ideology. Its goal is to eradicate
the existence of absolute evil and our everything good in the world – first the They chose to attack for no reason other
obligation to confront it. Jewish people, and all those who stand than to commit evil for its own sake.
for morality and justice. To sow darkness at the very dawn of
Final Solutions Israel’s aspirations to be “a light unto
Having mentioned absolute evil, most Remarkably, only two nations are called the nations.”
תישאר, the first of nations – the Jewish
situations in life are not so black or people, and Amalek. 2
white. Certainly in ethical terms, little Secondly, Amalek always intentionally
is absolutely good or absolutely bad, The point is clear. These two nations targets innocent civilians. Theirs is not a
but rather nuanced with many shades are pitted against each other in the regular military confrontation but rather
of moral grey. Nevertheless, world and perennial battle of good versus evil. a purposeful and systematic attack on
Jewish history are testament to the Just as on an individual level we battle those lagging behind: the elderly, the
undeniable existence of destructive constantly between our good and evil young, the weak and the infirm. They
ideologies of significant evil. impulses, so too these forces struggle attacked the most vulnerable and
with one another on a cosmic level – the defenseless in society.
Haman’s intention was to kill every last collective mission of the Jewish people
Jew in all 127 countries of Achashvero- as opposed to that of Amalek. Amalek Today
sh’s global empire in one day. His Final
Solution was on the brink of implemen- It was not by chance that Amalek was Amalek-type evil has taken on a new
name. Terrorism. The aim of interna-
tation. It was only through the grace of the first nation to attack Israel, as soon
G-d and the actions of Mordechai and as we came out of Egypt. This can be tional terrorism is to do exactly what
Esther that his plan was thwarted at the sourced from Parashat Zachor. Here are its name implies: to terrorize anywhere
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