Greg Bouwer
IINZ
Purim is a holiday of joy, resilience, and divine intervention. It commemorates the miraculous survival of the Jewish people from annihilation in ancient Persia, as told in the Book of Esther. The story is familiar: Haman, a high-ranking official in King Ahasuerus’s court, was consumed by hatred for the Jews – particularly for one man, Mordechai, who refused to bow to him. That hatred metastasized into something far more insidious: a decree to exterminate every Jew in the Persian Empire, from young to old, in a single day.
But Haman’s plan did not succeed. His arrogance blinded him to the power of faith, courage, and unity. Esther, a young Jewish queen, risked her life by revealing her identity to the king, pleading for her people’s salvation. Mordechai, unwavering in his convictions, galvanized the Jewish community to fast, pray, and prepare to defend themselves. And in the end, the very gallows Haman built for Mordechai became his own undoing.
The story of Purim is not merely an ancient tale – it is a blueprint for Jewish survival. Again and again, we have faced those who sought our annihilation. And again and again, we have endured, persevered, and emerged stronger than before.
Haman’s Spirit Lives On
History has no shortage of villains who have followed in Haman’s footsteps. Pharaoh sought to enslave and destroy us. Nebuchadnezzar burned our Temple and exiled us. Antiochus IV Epiphanes tried to erase our identity. The Romans, the Crusaders, the Inquisitors, the Cossacks, the Nazis – all of them, in different times and places, carried the same hatred, the same desire for the Jewish people to cease to exist.
And today, in our own time, we see the echoes of Haman’s evil in Hamas.
Hamas is not merely a political entity, nor is it a national movement for self-determination. It is an ideological force built on the foundation of Jewish destruction. Just as Haman sought the wholesale extermination of the Jews of Persia, Hamas’s charter leaves no room for ambiguity – it does not seek peace, coexistence, or even territorial concessions. It seeks the eradication of Israel and the murder of Jews wherever they are found.
The comparison is not hyperbolic. Haman’s decree did not call for military conquest or subjugation; it called for the killing of an entire people, simply for existing. Hamas operates in the same way – not as a force seeking diplomatic resolution, but as a death cult fueled by genocidal hatred. Whether through suicide bombings, rocket attacks, or the barbaric massacres of innocent civilians, their goal remains unchanged: to destroy.
The Jewish Response: Strength, Unity, and Survival
Yet, Purim teaches us that evil does not have the final word. Haman’s arrogance led to his downfall, just as every other enemy of the Jewish people has ultimately met defeat. But this did not happen by chance – it happened because the Jewish people stood together, refused to surrender, and took action.
Esther did not wait for someone else to save her people. She understood the weight of her responsibility. She understood that in times of crisis, silence is complicity, and inaction is a death sentence. She stepped forward, spoke out, and took risks. So too did Mordechai, who did not bow, did not compromise, and did not flinch in the face of mortal danger.
Their story is our story. Today, Jews around the world face rising threats – not just from Hamas, but from the resurgence of antisemitism in the West, the spread of lies and propaganda, and the growing normalization of hatred. The response must be the same as it was in the days of Esther: we must stand together, act with courage, and refuse to be silent.
Ironically, Hamas has achieved something it never intended – it has awakened millions of Jews. In Israel and throughout the diaspora, a new generation has been galvanized. Young Jews who once felt detached from their identity now wear it proudly. Families who may have been indifferent to Zionism now understand its necessity. Hamas, in its monstrous cruelty, has forged something it never anticipated: a renewed Jewish resolve.
The more depraved their tactics, the more they strengthen our will. The more they attempt to break us, the more we reaffirm who we are. We are not victims – we are a people who have faced the worst of humanity and survived.
We Have Survived Before, and We Will Survive Again
We did not merely survive Haman – we outlasted him. His name is a footnote in history, while the Jewish people continue to thrive. We have endured Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, the Inquisition, the pogroms, the Nazis, and now Hamas. Every single one of them believed they would be the ones to succeed where others had failed. Every single one of them is gone.
The Jewish people are still here.
Purim is not just a celebration of the past – it is a recognition of the present and a declaration about the future. It is a reminder that we are part of an unbroken chain of resilience, that we do not cower in fear, and that we will not let our enemies write our story.
Haman was defeated. Hamas, too, will fall.
Because Am Yisrael Chai – not just as a slogan, but as a truth. The people of Israel live, and they will continue to live, no matter how many Hamans rise to challenge them.
And just as we celebrate Purim today, future generations will celebrate our victories, knowing that, once again, we stood up, fought back, and prevailed.
Am Yisrael Chai.
This article was originally published by the Israel Institute of New Zealand.
