ZACHOR 5785

Be a Mordecai Jew

This Shabbat before Purim is called Shabbat Zachor, the Sabbath of Remembrance. We are bid to remember what the people of Amalek did after the Exodus when they attacked us for no reason other than we were Jews. It’s appropriate before Purim because Haman was a descendant of Amalek. When Gd commands us to eradicate the remembrance of Amalek He is telling us that whenever an Amalek raises his ugly head to attack Jews, we must be vigilant and stand up to him—even in the form of pro-Hamas protests on college campuses.

College protests against Israel and for Hamas—and along with it, campus antisemitism—seemed to be fading the past several months. But this week the protests made a comeback at the Barnard campus of Columbia U (where my son Rabbi Joshua went to school) in protests directed at Jewish students staged by pro-Palestinian protesters wearing keffiyehs and masks. In response, the US Department of Justice announced a new task force to investigate antisemitism on 10 U.S. college campuses. It’s about time! 

And it’s not only on college campuses. On the same day that 3 of the 4 members of the Bibas hostage family were laid to rest in Israel, a group calling itself “Artists4Ceasefire” entreated Hollywood’s elite to wear Red Hand pins to show support for Hamas at last Sunday’s Academy Awards.

Artists4Ceasefire? Currently there is a ceasefire; and there was a ceasefire on October 6, 2023. Just minor details, along with the terrorist strike on October 7, itself! Artists4Ceasefire purports to have 550 members. Some who wore their Red Hand pins include: Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell, Ramy Youssef, Ava DuVernay, Nicola Coughlan and Mark Ruffalo—reigning Hollywood antisemite-in-chief.

To show you how significant this problem is, Thane Rosenbaum in the Jewish Journal reports that last year, 400 signed a letter to President Biden to express support of Hamas, and they include: Jennifer Lopez, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Bradley Cooper, Angelina Jolie, John Cusack, Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Stewart, Selena Gomez, Dua Lipa, Cate Blanchett, Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams. This is quite an impressive list, unfortunately.

         Several Jews could not resist adding their names: Drake, Jon Stewart, Joaquim Phoenix, Ilana Glazer, Mandy Patinkin and Andrew Garfield. I ask them: Have you no shame?

The good news is that a pro-Jewish Hollywood activist group has materialized called “the Brigade.” It consists of 700 celebrities, filmmakers, producers, agents, etc. The group responded to Artists4Ceasefire’s call to wear Red Hand pins at the Oscars by pointing out: “That pin is no symbol of peace. It is the emblem of Jewish bloodshed!”

And recently, Jewish actors, David Schwimmer and Gal Gadot spoke at the Anti-Defamation League dinner about the ferocious levels of antisemitism at US colleges. Schwimmer called on his fellow Jews in Hollywood to stand up to antisemitism: Plenty of people I respect, even some of my heroes in entertainment, music and sports, have chosen to keep a low profile and sit this one out … I really wish you would speak out, because your voice would be so meaningful to your fans who love you, to your community members who need you, to folks who can use just a little solidarity right now. 

Unfortunately, antisemitism and the silence of too many—including too many Jews—is nothing new. In the Purim story, Haman approached King Achashverosh with his plan to exterminate the Jews. The king replied, “Not so fast. I’m afraid of their Gd, lest He do to me what He did to my predecessors.”

         Haman relieved the King of that fear when he said (Esther 3:8), Yeshno am echad, which translates literally as, “there is a certain nation,” meaning a certain nation that is not like us and does not follow our ways. The Talmud (Megillah 13b) explains that Haman was telling the King something much more insightful. The word yeshno can also be read as yoshnu from the word yashan (sleeping), rendering it “there is a sleeping nation.” Said Haman, “They have been sleeping, negligent of mitzvot and Gd’s ways. They are divided, fighting with one another, and so they are fast asleep as to how we threaten them.” Sound familiar?

       Haman recognized that the Jews were vulnerable because they were asleep. Their eyes were closed to what was happening around them and so they didn’t take threats seriously and stand up for themselves. Rav Joseph Ber Soloveitchik suggests that the true miracle of Purim is that an anti-Semite rose, threatened us, and we believed him. We didn’t excuse him, saying he was just ignorant, and in the end we confronted him.

Who confronted him? Who spoiled Haman’s plan? Mordechai and Esther. We understand Esther’s heroism. She risked everything—her life, her family, her people—to go out on a limb and confront the king without permission. But what made Mordechai a hero? If you think about it, Mordechai may actually be responsible for initiating the decree to exterminate the Jews.

Would it have been so terrible for him to just bow down to Haman? Just once? According to the Midrash, not only does Mordechai refuse to bow down to Haman, he antagonized him by camping out on Haman’s daily route so that every day Haman would see him refusing to give him honor. Mordechai’s provokes Haman and Haman responded by declaring his intention to destroy—not only Mordechai—but his people.

When Achashverosh reads in the chronicles of his kingdom how Mordechai saved his life, he sent Haman to reward him by parading him around publicly. Mordechai could have declined the honor. Instead, he accepted, and humiliated him further! Mordechai’s ego seems to have put the Jewish people at risk.

Perhaps we can excuse Mordecai by saying he didn’t bow to Haman because it’s idolatry to bow before a human being like they’re a god. In fact it’s a cardinal sin for which we must give up our lives rather than violate. But the Talmud (Sanhedrin 61b) teaches that the law of sacrificing your life rather than engaging in idolatry does not apply if one is bowing out of fear. So why didn’t Mordechai simply bow down to save the Jewish people?

It was because But Mordechai understood what was at stake. Mordechai understood the antidote to Jews being threatened is to stand firm and proud to be a Jew. Mordechai—a humble and righteous sage witnessed the growing antisemitism of Haman and his desire to see Jews and Judaism erased—and he understood the antidote. If Jews were fast asleep—excusing away the anti-Semitic “tropes” of their time as just ignorance—the answer was NOT to bow down, even if it was technically allowed. The answer was exactly the opposite—to stand firm, to stand strong, and to stand as a proud Torah Jew.

The answer to antisemitism is to not apologize for being a Jew, but rather to be the proudest Jew. And so Megillat Esther (2:5) introduces Mordechai as: “Ish Yehudi haya b’Shushan ha’bira (There was a Jewish man in Shushan the capital). Why introduce Mordecai as the “Jewish man.” Was he the only one? No, there was a large Jewish population in Shushan!

The Megillah is telling us that while there were many Jews, many Jews were abandoning their Judaism and many Jews failed to stand up for it. The Jewish community was asleep. Only Mordecai stood up as an unashamed, unapologetic Jew!

Let me end with the story of another unashamed and unapologetic Jew who—despite his captivity—stood up as a proud Jew. Keith Siegel—whose picture is on the door to our sanctuary—was released recently after 484 days in Hamas captivity. His daughter Shir recently shared some of the details of his captivity: Keith was held in inhumane conditions…He barely saw daylight, was starved for long periods of time, and held in solitude for periods of time…In captivity, his captors spoke in Arabic to him and prayed in Arabic to Allah. He knew he needed to keep his Jewish identity somehow. It started with small prayers. He said a bracha over food—which he had never done before in his life. Also, he said the Shema, which he’d never said regularly before in his life. In captivity, his strength was his identity as a Jew… He found his belief and connection with Gd…

         Hamas tried to teach him Islam and their ways. To get him to be far from who he was and lose himself. It would have been easier to go along with them, do what they want, especially because he was all alone. But he stayed strong and believed. And this is how he survived and returned home.

What happens when Jews stand up for themselves and call out antisemitism and antisemites? By the end of the story, the Megillah (8:17) tells us: “the fear of the Jew had fallen on them (the people of Persia) and so no man could stand up against them.” Why? As the end of the Megillah tells us: “Because Mordechai, the proud and fearless Jew earned the respect of his multitude of brothers; he sought the good of his people and was concerned for the welfare of the next generation.”

My friends, one of the critical lessons of Purim is that the answer to our enemies is not to hide being Jewish, not to apologize for being Jewish, nor to try erase our Jewishness. To the contrary, it is to swell with and share our Jewish pride. When we act with confidence and pride as a Jew—especially under duress—we gain respect.

So, don’t sit this Purim out. Come to shul to celebrate Purim Thursday night at 7pm. And if you dress up in costume, don’t just dress up like Mordechai or Esther, be an Ish Yehudi—act like a Mordechai and Esther. Amen!