Parsha: Why only one?

Purim

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Issue of February 26, 2010/ 12 Adar 5770

As more evidence continues to indicate the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai was a project of the Mossad, the conversation can go in different directions about the morality of such killings, the precision of the maneuvers and the “job,” as well as speculation about the frequency of such events, and how often they get the international press coverage this particular episode has received.

One perspective became particularly apparent to me after reading one Ian Fleming-inspired telling of the hours leading up to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh’s death. In focusing on their target, at no time was anyone other than al-Mabhouh in danger: not a bodyguard, not an arms dealer, not a girlfriend.

This approach, of course, is the exact opposite of the generally accepted Anti-Semitic viewpoint. What’s the value of taking out the one Jew you want to get when you can get a whole batch of Jews in one fell swoop?

Esther 3:5-6: “And when Haman saw that Mordecai would neither kneel nor prostrate himself before him, Haman became full of wrath. But it seemed contemptible to him to lay hands on Mordechai alone, for they had told him Mordechai’s nationality, and Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout Achashveirosh’s entire kingdom, Mordechai’s people.”

Why would it be contemptible for Haman to get rid of the sore in his pride? If everyone else was bowing to him, and only one Jew was presenting a challenge to his ego, would it not be enough to remove the one Jew from the equation, and move on with life?

After Haman sets his plan in motion, his wife suggests to him at the end of Esther, chapter 5, that he should not wait until the 13th of Adar to dispose of Mordechai. Take care of it right away! So he goes to the king in the fateful chapter 6, at which point the story turns and Haman is quickly removed from the picture.

The Vilna Gaon says the term “Vayivez B’einav” which we have defined to mean “it seemed contemptible to him” can also mean “It was embarrassing for him.”

Picture a royal officer who has been promoted to a top position in the capital city. Everyone bows to him, except one person who happens to also be a significant figure in the king’s court.

Imagine Haman running to the king: “Achashveirosh! Achashveirosh!”

“Yes, Haman. How are things going?” the king asks.

“They are well. Everyone is bowing to me, except... there’s this one person...”

“Everyone, except one person? Is it a plebeian or a royal officer?”

“Well... it’s a royal officer. It’s actually Mordechai. The Jew.”

Achashveirosh could now respond to Haman in a number of ways. He could tell Haman to get over it. He could order Mordechai into the king’s chamber to explain himself. He could tell Haman (following one midrash) that were he to remove the idol from around his neck, perhaps Mordechai would be more inclined to follow the king’s decree.

None of these solutions would work for Haman, which is why he did not approach the king about Mordechai initially. He was too embarrassed. He knew that were he to ask the king for permission to kill Mordechai alone for this transgression, it would never be granted.

Instead, he put the onus on all the Jewish people, throughout

Achashveirosh’s empire. Once all the Jews’ death sentence is written, Mordechai would inevitably be included in the decree. Problem solved. And Haman need not be embarrassed.

In other words, on account of one small beef with one Jew, Haman justified for himself the murder of an entire people.

It’s a strange world where the many are punished for the sins of the few. In some cases, the sins are not even sins, and the innocents who perish are at the hands of those who cannot seem to get their own lives in order.

If, indeed, the responsible parties from Dubai are on our side, I, for one, am glad that in cases such as this they focus on one man, get their man, and do not create innocent victims. I recognize things do not always happen this way, but this case should be a model for how to rid the world of evil individuals.