MUSING BEFORE PURIM

All who know me personally can vouch for the fact that not only am I a bit of a history buff, but I always get extremely annoyed when people try to tell me that studying history is a bore and a waste of time. I can consent to bore, because most of historians can not convey their knowledge, in either written or spoken form, without putting their audience to sleep in about five minutes flat; but a waste of time it definitely is not. You see, as far as cliches go, history most certainly repeats itself because people never bother to learn at least the rudiments of it, and, as such, always bound to repeat the mistakes of previous generations ad infinitum. Case in point: my people vs. the rest of the world.

Anyone with a modicum of historical knowledge, if, in fact, he or she possessed that knowledge, would most certainly and a long time ago come to a conclusion that is does not pay to tangle with Jews. Even if you consider yourself an atheist or an agnostic, and think that the Old Testament was written by a man and is filled with a bunch of nonsense, somehow "I will curse the ones who curse you, and bless the ones that bless you" always comes true. Blame it on anything you want: Elders of Zion, worldwide Jewish conspiracy, untold riches that every Jew is supposed to posses no matter his station in life; whatever it is, it is impossible to actually figure out, but, non the less, it always comes true. Think of great empires and all kinds of tyrants we have survived and outlived; boggles the mind!

Since, as already proven, people do not learn history and its lessons, in every generation, heck, almost every day, there always comes some brave individual or individuals, usually accompanied by a whole crowd of highly peaceful, moral and educated followers, who thinks the he will finally get rid of of this small bunch of weirdos who manage to always control the world and in the process bake the blood of innocent children in their weird holiday breads and pastries. The noble efforts are usually successful for a while (sometimes a long while), but, inevitably, the noble organizer himself goes to his just desserts, and then his country follows suit. The whole process may take more than one generation, but the circle is always completed. My question is: can't people just wise up and forget the heroics? I mean, as long as these blankety blank blank Jews do not touch you personally, can you forget about saving the world from the danger of Jewish World domination and enjoy life? The answer, of course, is always "no".

For about two generations and counting that noble role was undertaken not so much by a particular individual; more by a particular religion. Of course, they have been very active on this worthy path before; it is just that their efforts redoubled lately, and, for whatever reason, the civilized world is very accepting of these efforts contrary to any kind of applicable logic.

This week we (meaning the blankety blank blank Jews) will celebrate Purim. Whenever somebody asks me explain the meaning of this holiday in one sentence or less, all I can say is: we faced total and complete extermination, and, by the combination of very peculiar circumstances, not only survived, but emerged victorious. It is possibly the happiest holiday in our calendar, full of food, drink, revelry, and excited children in costumes (adults too, actually). Of course, life's circumstances being what they are, not everyone's level of happiness will be the same; but this year all of us know of eight families for whom Purim will come on the hills of emerging from the Shiva for their murdered children.

They were murdered in cold blood by a fanatical killer; most of them were just high school kids. Their murder was loudly celebrated by the members of that fanatical religion, and the most of the rest of the world either ignored it or proclaimed it as just another chain in the circle of violence in the Middle East and bemoaned the fact of that little incident derailing the peace process.

Like the vast majority of humankind, I can not see G-d's plan, nore do I profess the ability to do so. I will never know why it was His plan to allow the killer into the place of holy learning, why these kids were killed, and why it happened as the month of Adar, the month of Purim celebration, was approaching. These boys and their classmates were preparing to do just that: welcome the new month and celebrate Purim; instead they ended up lying in the pool of blood amongst the debris of the destroyed holy books. The murderers cheered on , and the so-called defenders of human rights did not even bother to honestly report "the incident".

Again, even if you consider the Book of Esther just a product of human imagination, do yourselves a favor and read it; after all, once upon a time it was a mark of an educated person to be familiar with the Old Testament. Then, try to familiarize your minds with at least bare bones of the history of Spain. With me still? Good. Now, explain to me, pretty please, the logic and moral justification of calling a religion "religion of peace" when the so called radical members of this religion dance on the streets at the prospect of Jewish parents burying their murdered children, and non-radical members just stay mum (at the very least). Not too tired yet? Wonderful, just a tiny bit more. Sit down, make yourselves comfortable, and try, at least try to comprehend this: we will never quietly disappear into the night, never! Muslims can murder our children in the places of holy learning or shoot them (along with their pregnant mothers) execution style on the lonely rodes, and you can condone all of it as part of their fight for freedom and self-determination; it does not matter. We will grieve, because when you strike one of us, you strike us all. Then we will dry our tears and go on living, while you can contemplate the moral ramifications of condoning genocide or just standing by and letting it happen.

May G-d comfort our bereaved, especially the parents of those poor boys, and may He protect our children! This Friday we, once again, will celebrate His miracles and our survival. We will remember the story, help the poor, eat, drink, and enjoy life. L'Chaim!