By
Rabbi Zari Weiss
,
Special to JTNews
Many of us are familiar with the story told at Purim. A young maiden, Esther, is taken by the king to be his new wife. As her uncle Mordechai bids her, however, she hides her identity as a Jew. Meanwhile Haman, the King’s minister, is promoted and set above all of the other ministers, and goes out into the courtyard of the palace to flaunt his new authority and power.
All of the king’s servants bow down to Haman, but Mordechai refuses, nor does he show any obeisance to him. Haman thereupon becomes enraged, and decides not only to lay hands on Mordechai, but to destroy all of the Jews who live throughout the whole kingdom. Haman successfully persuades the king to issue a decree declaring that on the 13th day of the month of Adar, all Jews ‘ young and old, men, women, and little children, would be annihilated and their possessions taken for plunder.
Upon hearing of the terrible decree, Mordechai puts on sackcloth and ashes and sits outside the palace gates, a mournful cry rising from his lips. When Esther hears he is there, she sends a servant to learn what is causing Mordechai to act the way he is.
Mordechai explains the fate that awaits the Jews, and then ‘ when Esther says that no one comes before the King uninvited under penalty of death ‘ Mordechai replies that it is only Esther who can save their people.
‘Do not think in your heart that you shall escape in the King’s house any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, then shall relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house shall perish; and who knows: perhaps you have been brought to the royal house for such a time as this.’
After some soul searching, Esther does indeed come before the King, and eventually reveals the wicked plot of his minister Haman. The plans are foiled, and the Jews survive the planned massacre. To this day, we remember how the Jewish people was saved from annihilation by celebrating the holiday of Purim, on the 14th day of the month of Adar.
We do not know if this story is based in historical reality, but like all of the sacred stories of our people, this story is a part of our heritage not simply to give us an opportunity to have fun and make noise and act silly.
Though those activities are part of the more superficial observance of the holiday, there is a deeper message being conveyed, and that message is perhaps no more dire than now.
We cannot remain silent in the face of tyranny and violence against innocent people. In our own generation, we must be like Esther, who had the courage to speak up and speak out in defense of those who are being victimized by powerful and corrupt governments and people.
As some of you may know, since February 2003, the government-backed militia known as the Janjaweed has been engaged in a systematic program of murder, rape, and expulsion in the region of Darfur, Sudan. The Janjaweed have obliterated an estimated 80 percent to 90 percent of the villages in Darfur. They have murdered over 400,000 men, women, and children, and forced over 2 million others into overcrowded refugee camps.
In addition, ongoing violence threatens aid workers, and roads closed by the Janjaweed are preventing international aid from reaching the people who need it the most. If aid workers are forced to pull out because of escalating violence, the death toll may reach 100,000 people each month. The crisis is urgent and the time to speak out and take action is now. We cannot remain silent.
Here is what we can do:
1) The American Jewish World Service, in conjunction with the Save Darfur Coalition and other national organizations, is collecting a million postcards to be delivered to President Bush at a rally in Washington D.C. on April 30, 2006. Visit their Web site at http://www.ajws.org/darfur to get more information.
2) Congress failed to act before the winter break to pass the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, or to provide the necessary $50 million in funding for the existing African Union peacekeeping forces. Call, write or visit your senators and representatives and let them know this is unacceptable. Summaries of the Senate and House versions of the act can be found at http://www.dollsfordarfur.org.
3) Call the White House at least two times each week to increase the volume of phone calls generated at the White House Switchboard. The number is 202-456-1111. Implore President Bush to make the situation in Darfur a priority.
Friends, some of us may be familiar with the statement written by Pastor Martin Niem’ller:
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the
Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the
trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
The people in Darfur do not have an Esther who can intervene on their behalf. We must be their Esther. We cannot remain silent. The time to speak out is now.
Rabbi Zari Weiss is the director of Rodef Tzedek: The Center for the Pursuit of Justice, which works with Jews and interfaith communities to increase involvement in social justice issues.