It Starts With Us

I haven’t written many words about what is happening between Israel and Palestine.  I’m not a historian, and the history in this story matters so much.  I’ve been reading a lot and trying to gain a better understanding of the centuries of conflict in this region, but it still feels like barely scratching the surface.  

What I do know with certainty is that antisemitism is on the rise.  And it is escalating rapidly.  All over the world, Jews are being targeted in the most vitriolic and horrendous ways.  

Jewish people are being kidnapped.
Jewish people are being murdered. 
Jewish people are having their property defaced. 
Jewish people are being targeted with hate speech. 

All of this is happening because they are Jewish.  

This is not ok.  
It will never be ok.  
It can never, not for a minute, be justified.  

I can’t wrap my head around this kind of hatred.  I don’t understand it.  

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been spending time in the Book of Esther.  If you haven’t read it recently, I encourage you to re-read it this week.  It isn’t too long, and all ten chapters can be read in about 30 minutes.  

While reading this time, I noticed some things I hadn’t really paid attention to before. 

In Chapter 3, Haman approaches the king about a group of people who aren’t following the king’s laws and, in fact, have laws different from those of other nations.  He tells the king it is not in his interest to let these people remain.  The king, in turn, gives Haman his signet ring and tells him to do what he thinks is best. 

During this exchange, Haman is described as the son of Hammedatha the Agagite and as an enemy of the Jews.  

I realized I didn’t know what an Agagite was, so I looked into it, and it seems that Haman’s dad was related to the king of the Amalekites.  There is more about them in 1 Samuel, but for brevity - the Amalekites and the Israelites were enemies.  It occurred to me that this hatred Haman had for the Jewish people didn’t just awaken in him one day, but was taught to him by his family and his community.  

Haman, with the authority of the king, sent letters to the 127 provinces the king ruled over, decreeing that on the 13th day of the 12th month, the month of Adar, those in the provinces should destroy, kill, and annihilate all of the Jews, both young and old, women and children.  

I’ve read all of these words before, but in the past, when I read Esther, my focus was mainly on Esther and her bravery and God’s plan for her to be where she was at that appointed time.  I glossed over Haman and his deep hatred for the Jewish people.  Not to mention the king and his hands-off approach to the annihilation of a people group under his care.  

We seem to be witnessing a similar deep-seated hatred among the terrorist organization that has set out to annihilate the Jews in our day.  It is a reminder that again hatred has been handed down from generation to generation. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about what is mine to do as antisemitism is on the rise.  How can I possibly make a difference?  Maybe you’ve been wondering this too.

What I have found to be mine to do right now is to read and ask questions.  History has never been a strength for me, so taking the time to orient myself to the past and to hear from those who can offer a broader perspective helps me be a more compassionate listener.  

Jews for Jesus put out an article recently that does a deep dive into the history of antisemitism within Christianity.  It is a bit of a lengthy read, but a helpful one if you are curious about how messages of hatred can become woven into the DNA of a community.  

Another thing that is mine to do is to have conversations in my home and in the communities where I am invested.  I’m probably not going to change the world when it comes to antisemitism, but I can be an advocate for the Jewish people in the spaces that make up my daily life.  

I hope that each of us will take the time to get curious about what is ours to do when it comes to the conversation of antisemitism.  May we each notice what we are passing on from generation to generation and make adjustments as needed.  

~  Melissa