(1) Some time afterward, King Achashverosh promoted Haman son of Hamedata the Agagite [somebody from the family of King Agag, of Amalek - see texts 2 and 3 below]; he advanced him and seated him higher than any of his fellow officials. (2) All the king’s courtiers [advisors] in the palace gate knelt and bowed low to Haman, for such was the king’s order concerning him; but Mordechai would not kneel or bow low. (3) Then the king’s courtiers who were in the palace gate said to Mordechai, “Why do you disobey the king’s order?” (4) When they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordechai’s resolve would prevail [win out]; for he had explained to them that he was a Jew.
(17) Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt— (18) how, undeterred by [without] fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished [really hungry] and weary [tired], and cut down all the stragglers in your rear. (19) Therefore, when your God ה' grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that your God ה' is giving you as a hereditary [inherited] portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!
(1) [The Prophet] Samuel said to [King] Saul, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over His people Israel. Therefore, listen to the LORD’s command! (2) “Thus said the LORD of Hosts: I am exacting the penalty for what Amalek did to Israel, for the assault he made upon them on the road, on their way up from Egypt. (3) Now go, attack Amalek, and proscribe [religiously kill and destroy] all that belongs to him. Spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and asses!” (4) Saul mustered the troops and enrolled them at Telaim: 200,000 men on foot, and 10,000 men of Judah. (5) Then Saul advanced as far as the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the wadi [dry river bed]. (6) Saul said to the Kenites, “Come, withdraw at once from among the Amalekites, that I may not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they left Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites. (7) Saul destroyed Amalek from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is close to Egypt, (8) and he captured King Agag of Amalek alive. He proscribed [religiously killed and destroyed] all the people, putting them to the sword.
(ה) רַבִּי פִּנְחָס אָמַר, שְׁנֵי עֲשִׁירִים עָמְדוּ בָּעוֹלָם, אֶחָד לְיִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶחָד לְעוֹבְדֵי כּוֹכָבִים, וְלֹא עָמַד לָהֶם מָמוֹנָם אֶלָּא לְרָעָתָם. קֹרַח בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁמָּצָא אוֹצְרוֹת שֶׁל כֶּסֶף וְזָהָב שֶׁהִטְמִין יוֹסֵף. וְהָמָן בְּעוֹבְדֵי כּוֹכָבִים, לָקַח אוֹצְרוֹת מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה. וְכֵיוָן שֶׁרָאָה הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת עָשְׂרוֹ וַעֲשֶׂרֶת בָּנָיו לְפָנָיו שָׂרִים, עָמַד וְגִדְּלוֹ וְרוֹמְמוֹ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה גִּדַּל הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ אֶת הָמָן בֶּן הַמְדָתָא הָאֲגָגִי וַיְנַשְֹּׂאֵהוּ, וְצִוָּה הַמֶּלֶךְ שֶׁיְהוּ כּוֹרְעִים וּמִשְׁתַּחֲוִים לוֹ, מֶה עָשָׂה הָמָן, עָשָׂה לוֹ צֶלֶם מְרֻקָּם עַל בְּגָדָיו וְעַל לִבּוֹ, וְכָל מִי שֶׁהָיָה מִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה לְהָמָן הָיָה מִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה לַעֲבוֹדַת כּוֹכָבִים.
(5) ... “After these matters, King Achashverosh promoted Haman son of Hamedata… and he raised him up.” The king commanded that they should bow down to him. What did Haman do? He crafted for himself an embroidered image on his garment and on his heart, and anyone who would bow down to Haman would bow down to the image.
"Bow down". ... It is correct what our Rabbis of Blessed memory said that a type of idol [statue of a god] was on his [Haman's] clothing or his hat.
1. According to the texts, why did Mordechai refuse to bow down before Haman? (There are two reasons.)
2. Could there be another, more personal reason (maybe Text I hints at it)?
3. If you were a minority Jewish community in the Diaspora (places outside Israel) and your community was potentially vulnerable would you bow down in such a situation or not? Why/why not?
4. How do we blot out the name of Haman, who is from the family of King Agag of Amalek, today during Purim?
(8) Haman then said to King Achashverosh, “There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the other peoples in all the provinces of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; and it is not in Your Majesty’s interest to tolerate them.
(8) A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. (9) And he said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. (10) Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war they may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground.”
1. What are the similarities and differences between Text 7 and 8 above?
2. Pharoah and Haman "other-ise" the Israelites/the Jewish people. How would you respond to being "other-ised"? Would it make you cast away your Judaism or cling to it? Why?
3. Why would God allow this to happen? If God punishes Jews for doing the wrong thing, can you think of something the Jews might have done at the beginning of Megilat Esther, which they should not have?
4. Is there a philosophical problem with saying that bad things happen to Jews because of what Jews do or do not do? Does God respond to human action? Is this fair or not? Discuss.
... The Holy One, Blessed be God, does not strike at the Jewish people unless God has already first created a solution for them ...
1. The Rabbis teach in this text that even when God responds to human action (or inaction), God has already "mapped out" (God has already thought "steps ahead in the game" in regard to) the solution to the punishment that God allows to happen.
Does this solve our philosophical problem? Why/why not? (See question 4 in source 9.)
(13) Mordechai had this message delivered to Esther: “Do not imagine that you, of all the Jews, will escape with your life by being in the king’s palace. (14) On the contrary, if you keep silent in this crisis, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another quarter, while you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows, perhaps you have attained to royal position for just such a crisis.”
1. The planned killing of the Jews is only meant to start in around 11 months' time. Why the rush? What is Mordechai worried about? Why can't Esther just help out later on?