IT'S ALL CONNECTED TO PURIM

28 Shevat 5781

THE PURIM CONNECTION TO COVID-19

There are some very interesting and instructive connections that can be drawn between our current situation and the Purim holiday.  Recall that the so-called pandemic was declared a global emergency on Shushan Purim 5780 (11 March 2020).  The conspiracy to annihilate all the Jews in Esther and Mordechai's time was global in scope - 127 provinces in the Persian Empire.  

When it says that HKB"H will raise up a king like Haman against us and then we will surely do teshuvah, really think about what that would mean.  And what position we would find ourselves in - just like Mordechai and Esther did - pretty helpless - sort of like today?  Or just like today?  All they could do was fast and pray and do teshuvah, but in the end, that is what worked to turn the situation around.  That is what HKB"H responded to when he sent them their deliverance.

Furthermore, present-day Iran, so often in the news today, was ancient Persia.  They are reaching a point where they might once again represent an existential threat to Am Yisrael. Right here at Purim time again.

I read someplace, I wish I could remember where, that Gog is the title of the leader of Amalek, that it comes from Agag, the ancient leader of the Amalekites and progenitor of Haman.  There is even a tie-in to Purim and the wars of Gog uMagog.  Some speculate as to whether Hitler, y"sh, could have been the "king like Haman."  Have you heard the story about "Purimfest 1946"?  I'll let you read for youself. And keep in mind how often you may have heard the word "Nuremberg" recently in connection with this vaccine.

PURIM - HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

On 1 October 1946, after 216 court sessions, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg delivered its verdicts sentencing the leaders of the Nazi party to death by hanging. The author of the following account, Kingsbury Smith of the International News Service, was chosen by lot to represent the American press at the execution of ten of those leaders.

Nuremberg Gaol, Germany

16 October 1946

International News Service 

…Julius Streicher made his melodramatic appearance at 2:12 a.m.

While his manacles were being removed and his bare hands bound, this ugly, dwarfish little man, wearing a threadbare suit and a well-worn bluish shirt buttoned to the neck but without a tie (he was notorious during his days of power for his flashy dress), glanced at the three wooden scaffolds rising menacingly in front of him. Then he glanced around the room, his eyes resting momentarily upon the small group of witnesses. By this time, his hands were tied securely behind his back. Two guards, one on each arm, directed him to Number One gallows on the left of the entrance. He walked steadily the six feet to the first wooden step but his face was twitching.

As the guards stopped him at the bottom of the steps for identification formality he uttered his piercing scream: 'Heil Hitler!'

The shriek sent a shiver down my back.

As its echo died away an American colonel standing by the steps said sharply, 'Ask the man his name.' In response to the interpreter's query Streicher shouted, 'You know my name well.'

The interpreter repeated his request and the condemned man yelled, 'Julius Streicher.'

As he reached the platform Streicher cried out, 'Now it goes to G-d.' He was pushed the last two steps to the mortal spot beneath the hangman's rope. The rope was being held back against a wooden rail by the hangman.

Streicher was swung suddenly to face the witnesses and glared at them. Suddenly he screamed, 'Purim Fest 1946.' [Purim is a Jewish holiday celebrated in the spring, commemorating the execution of Haman, ancient persecutor of the Jews described in the Old Testament]…

Streicher had been a Nazi since early in the movement’s history. He was the editor and publisher of the anti-Semitic newspaper "Der Sturmer." In May of 1924 Streicher wrote and published an article on Purim titled "Das Purimfest" (The Festival of Purim). In order to publish his vitriolic attack Streicher must have had a good deal of knowledge about Jewish thought and practice. However we can only speculate to what extent he was aware of the remarkable parallels between Haman and his own execution. However, they are indeed striking:

“And the king said to Esther the queen, ‘The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the capital, and the ten sons of Haman...Now whatever your petition, it shall be granted; whatever your request further, it shall be done.’

Then said Esther, ‘If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews that are in Shushan to do tomorrow also as this day, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.’ ” (Esther 9:12-14)

If Haman’s ten sons had already been killed, how could they be hanged?

Our Sages comment on the word “tomorrow" in Esther's request: "There is a tomorrow that is now, and a tomorrow which is later." (Tanchuma, Bo 13 and Rashi, Shemot 13:14).

In the Megilla, the names of Haman’s ten sons are written very large and in two columns. This is in distinct contrast to the style of the rest of the Megilla. The left-hand column contains the word v'et (and) ten times. According to our Sages the word v'et is used to denote replication. The inference is that another ten people were hanged in addition to Haman's ten sons.

If we examine the list of Haman's sons three letters are written smaller: the taf of Parshandata, the shin of Parmashta and the zayin of Vizata.

Those three letters together form taf-shin-zayin, the last three numbers of the Jewish year 5707, which corresponds to the secular year 1946, the year that those ten Nazi criminals were executed.

The Nuremberg trials were a military tribunal and thus the method of execution was usually by firing squad. The court, however, prescribed hanging. Esther’s request "Let Haman's ten sons be hanged" echoes down the ages.

Equally uncanny is that the date of the execution (October 16, 1946) fell on "Hoshana Rabba" (21 Tishrei), the day on which G-d seals the verdicts of Rosh Hashana for the coming year.

As the Megilla recounts, a decree that the king has sealed cannot be rescinded, and thus Achashverosh had to promulgate a second decree to allow the Jewish People to defend themselves. In other words, that first decree was never nullified.

Our Sages teach us that eventually the Jewish People will return to G-d either voluntarily, or if not, G-d will raise up another despot whose decrees will be “as severe as Haman” (Sanhedrin 97b).

When we look toward the place of our original encounter with Haman and see the rise of a fanatic whose rhetoric rivals our most vicious enemies, we should remember that history most often repeats itself for those who fail to learn its lessons.  

And lest we forget, the Shabbat before Purim is when we read Zachor.

REMEMBER AMALEK

The Midrash relates: Cursed are the wicked.  They occupy their time with ideas about how to destroy the Jews, with each one vying for the honor of having the best idea.  Esav ridiculed Cain for killing Abel during Adam’s lifetime.  If Cain wanted the whole world for himself, he should have realized that Adam was still alive and could have more children.  Esav was not going to make that mistake.  He would wait until Yitzchok’s death and then kill Yaakov.  Later, it was Pharaoh’s turn to laugh at Esav.  Didn’t Esav know that Yaakov could have children before Yitzchok died?  Nothing would be gained by killing Yaakov if he had offspring that would survive him.  Pharaoh thought himself smarter than Esav.  He would kill every Jewish male at birth.  Centuries later it was Pharaoh’s turn to be thought a fool, by Haman.  Didn’t Pharaoh understand that even if one Jewish male remained he could father the nation anew?  Haman’s plan was to kill them all! 

The Midrash concludes by teaching that in the future, Gog and Magog will deride Haman.  Didn’t Haman know that the Jews have a Father in Heaven Who will never let them be destroyed as long as they do His bidding?  So they will first do battle with God by keeping the Jews from observing the Torah and mitzvot. This will enable them to destroy the Jews.  But God’s response to this is clear: “I have many messengers whom I can send into battle. But the war against Gog and Magog I shall wage Myself.  Their destruction shall be complete.” (Esther Rabbah 7:23.) 

Today, though Amalek definitely and unfortunately exists, we cannot say with certainty who, or where, all of them are.  However, there is a noteworthy exception.  When Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany [the Gog of WWI] visited Jerusalem during his journey to the Holy Land almost all the religious leaders of Jerusalem came to the city gates to greet him.  Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (d.1932), the spiritual leader of Ashkenazic Jewry in Israel at that time, did not go. When asked about his refusal he answered that although the Kaiser himself was deserving of the honor bestowed upon him, “I have a tradition that Germany is Amalek.” (Source)

100 YEARS OF GOG UMAGOG

The Chafetz Chaim famously said that WWI was the first war of Gog uMagog and that about 25 years later, there would be a second, followed about 70 years later by a third.  There are some interesting similarities between the prior two wars of Gog uMagog (WWI and WWII) and the one we seem to be in the midst of today.

WWI:    Who instigated it?  Germany - Kaiser Wilhelm II (Second Reich)
What was one result of it?  Eretz Yisrael was freed from Turkish (Yishmael) rule.

WWII:   Who instigated it?  Germany - Adolph Hitler (Third Reich)
What was one result of it?  Eretz Yisrael was freed from British (Eisav) rule.

(Speculative)

WWIII:  Who instigated it?  German-born Klaus Schwab (Fourth Industrial Revolution)

What will be one result of it?  Eretz Yisrael will be freed from Zionist (Erev Rav) rule.

I'm pretty convinced this Schwab character is the present-day "king that is worse than Haman."  He has written all the books on the subjects (The Great Reset, COVID-19, The Fourth Industrial Revolution).  His World Economic Forum was created to advance a program of transhumanism - the re-creation of the human race.  The "Elite" who pay dearly for the privilege of attending his Davos conferences each year intend to rule the world and right now, only the Jews stand in their way.

 "So they will first do battle with God by keeping the Jews from observing the Torah and mitzvot."

So, we will keep observing Torah and mitzvot and praying for our deliverance by the hand of HKB"H, who ultimately will redeem us and the whole world.