A Primer on Amalek Part 5 – Haman's Letter
Aside from our encounters with them in the desert, Amalek historically does not wage war against the Jewish people by themselves. They insinuate themselves into positions of influence with other nations and seduce them down the path of greatest evil. What the snake was to Chava, and what the Erev Rav are to Israel, Amalek is to the nations of the world.
The clearest, most detailed example of this is Haman. A cursory reading of Megillas Esther leaves no ambiguity about Haman's wickedness. He talked Achashverosh into authorizing a worldwide extermination of the Jewish people and personally oversaw this planned holocaust. However, many important details, including the tools of his trade, are revealed only in a remarkable Midrash, Esther Rabba 7:13:
“'If it is good in the eyes of the king, let him write [an edict] for them to be exterminated' (Esther 3:9). Resh Lakish said, when Haman said to Achashverosh, 'Come, let us exterminate Israel from the world,” Achashverosh said to him, 'You are unable to do this to them, for their God will never allow it altogether. Come and see what He did to the earlier kings who came before us who stretched out their hands against them. They were greater and more powerful than us, but everyone who went up against them was destroyed from the world, and those who plotted against them were canceled from the world, and were a parable for all the generations of the world. We, who are not great like them, how much more so! Cease talking about it and give up on the idea.’
Nevertheless, Haman the wicked badgered Achashverosh all the time about this idea, and would give him evil counsel about Israel. Achashverosh [finally] said to him, 'Being that this is the case, let us consult with our wise men and sorcerers.’
Immediately he sent and gathered all the wise men of the nations of the world. They all came before him. Achashverosh said to them, 'Is it your desire that we should exterminate this nation from the world?’
They all said together, 'Who is it, and which one is it, who would deign to do such a thing and wants to send out in this matter? For if you exterminate Israel from the world [the world itself will be destroyed]; the world only exists because of the Torah that was given to Israel...And someone who wants to send out his hand against the close ones and children of the Holy One, blessed is He, how will he escape? For He rules over the upper and lower worlds, and the soul of every living being is in His hands to raise up or cast down, to kill or to give life. Consider the first kings from the past, such as Pharaoh and Sancherev – they stretched out their hands against Israel, and what did it do for them?’”
Before we continue with the Midrash, we need to make a few observations.
1) Haman was advising Achashverosh to commit genocide against a noble people for the fabricated crime of having their own way of life and “not being worth keeping around” (Esther 3:8).
This might be the earliest invocation of “useless eaters”, a canard that has been used throughout history to demonize innocent people and justify their wholesale slaughter for “the greater good”. They aren't worth keeping around.
2) When Haman first broached this idea to Achashverosh, we might have expected the king to react with outrage. How could Haman dare advise him to commit such an atrocity? At the very minimum Haman should have been deposed from his high position and banished.
Yet Achashverosh did not reject Haman's advice on moral grounds or even political grounds, but strictly on practical grounds; God would never allow it, those who tried in the past were destroyed, and Achashverosh was no better qualified.
This was all the opening the snake needed to inject his poison. Haman had what to work with. Fears could be assuaged. Practical considerations could be overcome. As long as Achashverosh lacked moral convictions, he was easy prey for Amalek's descendant.
3) Achashverosh and the wise men of the nations of the world believed in God and were afraid of His wrath. They took the lessons of history seriously. They also understood that the Jewish people played a vital role in the world, and it was in their own best interests to preserve them. The nations of the world were far from righteous, but, unlike atheists and those who ignore history, they weren't fools.
Nevertheless, once again, their objections to annihilating the Jewish people were based entirely on practical, self-centered considerations. Once again, this was easy pickings for Amalek.
“Immediately Haman said to them, 'The God that drowned Pharaoh in the sea and performed miracles and mighty deeds for Israel that you heard about – He is old already and is unable to do anything, for Nevuchadnezzar already went up and destroyed His house, and burned down His sanctuary, and exiled Israel and scattered them among the nations. Where is His power and His might? He has already become old…'
“When he said such things to them, they immediately accepted his words and agreed to destroy Israel, and they wrote letters and signed them.”
Here Haman presented – and possibly invented – two classic false assertions that have been leveraged ever since to abandon fear of God and persecute the Jews. First he claimed, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary from Tanach and the miracle of Jewish persistence, that God rejected the Jewish people. Entire religions are predicated on this falsehood, and Haman provided the seed for this corrupt fruit.
Haman also claimed, based on a gross misinterpretation of the harsh punishments the Jewish people suffered – all of which were foretold by Moshe and subsequent prophets – that God is powerless to protect Israel from its enemies. It would take more time for new religions to be invented based on Haman's claim, but the Jews had no shortage of enemies eager to believe they could wage war on them without fear of the God of Israel. Haman gave them that boost of confidence, and made it “kosher” to boot.
Long before there was an Evian Conference, or a United Nations, or a World Economic Forum, Haman gathered the leaders of the world and addressed their Jewish problem. He destigmatized the idea of committing genocide against an entire people, he made it acceptable to discuss it in polite company, and he allayed their fear of consequences.
But there was still a critical piece of the puzzle before the conspiracy could be implemented. The citizens of the various countries, the ordinary people, needed to be on board with the wholesale destruction of their Jewish neighbors – if not enough to actively participate, then at least to remain passive and look the other way.
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