Lessons from Purim for Today
Lessons from Purim for Today
Purim is a joyous holiday with a dark side. It is celebrated in remembrance of the biblical story of Hadassah, the beautiful Jewish orphan who Ahasuerus chose to become Esther, the new queen of Persia. Esther ascended the position during a particularly dark time in the history of the Jewish people. If Haman’s evil plan had succeeded, the entire Jewish population throughout the vast empire would have been massacred. Fortunately, there is a happy ending. Esther intervened with the king, and for the some 2,500 years since, the Jewish people have been celebrating their escape from death on Purim.
From Mourning to a Holiday
The joyous festivities of Purim are preceded by a solemn day of fasting and prayer. Synagogues and living rooms are usually packed to capacity for the reading of the Book of Esther—accompanied by noisy and hilarious interjections. Every time Haman’s name is read, the audience boos and drowns out the mention of his name using special noisemakers. On the other hand, every time Mordechai’s name is read, the crowd cheers.
All Jewish holidays have special food. For Purim, there’s Hamantaschen (Yiddish for Haman’s hat) or Oznei Haman (Hebrew for Haman’s ears), a triangle-shaped cookie stuffed with all kinds of delicious fillings. It is also customary to deliver gift baskets filled with cookies and other sweet treats to friends and the poor.
It is customary to dress up in fun costumes for Purim, and Israel’s streets are usually filled with merrymakers decked out as Esther, Mordechai, Batman, pirates, superheroes, Disney princesses and every other conceivable character. The young and young at heart present plays called Purim spiels, often hilarious retakes on the Purim story.
This elaborate, fun-filled holiday has one purpose: celebrating the fact that a planned massacre of the Jewish people was foiled. Haman was destroyed, and the Jewish people were victorious over his evil plot to annihilate them.
The Spirit of Haman Lives On
If only this planned annihilation was a once-off occurrence. However, in generation after generation, the evil spirit of antisemitism typified by Haman’s actions rears its ugly head.
In November, we attended a show by Jewish comedian Ami Kozak. The event took place shortly after Zohran Mamdani was elected the next New York City mayor. Given Mamdani’s public support for Hamas and his strong statements against Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Jewish community in the United States is understandably alarmed. Kozak joked that there might come a time that we will need noisemakers to drown out Mamdani’s name every time it is spoken.
Jewish people around the world are alarmed at the rapid rise in antisemitic actions over the past years. According to the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency, international antisemitic attacks have skyrocketed by a staggering 340% from 2022 to 2024. Many of these have been violent attacks, including synagogue arson, vandalism, physical assaults, anti-Jewish and Israel rhetoric, anti-Israel protests as well as a flood of antisemitic social media content. Tragically, there hasn’t been any improvement in 2025.
Mayim Bialik, the American Jewish actress perhaps best known for her role as a neuroscientist on the Big Bang Theory, recently shared a powerful message on social media. She asked her audience to imagine a massacre in which Americans of a particular ethnic group or religion were slaughtered, followed by global demonstrations with tens of thousands calling for further violence against them. She explained that this is what it feels like for Jewish people in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre, which claimed the lives of over 1,200 people in Israel. Bialik said that nothing in her life had prepared her for the level of antisemitism she now sees. She described the Jewish world as traumatized and questioned how the community can comprehend that so many people wish for their eradication. She even admitted to feeling afraid to send her son to university.
She is not alone. Jewish people around the world are hiding their Jewish identity. Men wear baseball caps to hide their kippahs (yarmulkes). Families are removing mezuzahs (Scripture boxes) from their doorposts. Women tuck their Star of David necklaces into their collars. Some are changing their surnames on Uber and DoorDash to sound less Jewish. Is this paranoia? Or is it prudent?
Where is the Church?
We have come to expect the hatred of radical Islamic groups toward Israel and the Jewish people, but it is deeply shocking to hear similar sentiments expressed in parts of the Christian world. Our US National Director, Patrick Verbeten, recently attended a large conservative conference with a turnout of thousands of Christian young adults. He was alarmed at the level of anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric and philosophy that was openly expressed. Well-known conservatives like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owen and Nick Fuentes—each with millions of followers—voice strong criticism of Israel and Christian Zionists, who take the Bible literally and believe that God is keeping His promises to the Jewish people in our lifetime.
Avi Mayer, an Israeli travelling in the US at the time of Mamdani’s election, shared this somber warning, “In the days leading up the New York mayoral election, there was a sense among many American Jews that something dark was coming…I overheard one older woman say to another as we waited to board the plane to Tel Aviv, ‘We had been living in a golden age.’”
French Jews have known for some time that they had to leave France. Now, American Jews are asking whether the golden age for Jews in the United States is drawing to an end.
In the Book of Esther, Mordechai challenged his niece to stand up for the Jewish people saying, “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14b). I want to issue a similar challenge. In the face of antisemitism rising, the Church cannot remain silent. Now is the time to stand firmly for the God of Israel, the literal interpretation of the Bible and the Israel of God. Now is the time to act in solidarity with His people, honoring the legacy of Purim and participating in God’s ongoing story of faithfulness.
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