Page 3 - HaMizrachi Purim Australia 5781

TORAT MIZRACHI

Rabbi Doron Perez

Persia and Purim,

Iran and Israel

MORDECHAI AND THE NEED FOR MORAL CLARITY

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

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