There are many biblical passages from which I gain inspiration. “Do not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your fellow human being; love your neighbor as yourself” is one from the book of Leviticus.
That verse reminds us to seek something deeper within the relationships we experience in a community.
Other passages remind us to “be on the lookout” for the unexpected.
This verse from the book of Esther were read in synagogues throughout the world on March 20-21 (on the holiday of Purim): “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.”
That false declaration by the Prime Minister Haman (the villain of the book) beseeched King Ahasuerus of Persia to issue an edict for the liquidation of the Jewish community within his realm. Haman sought to punish all of the Jews in Persia because one of their own, Mordecai, did not follow the custom of bowing to the prime minister.
Little did Haman know that Mordecai’s cousin Esther had just become queen. Also, little did he know that Mordecai had just uncovered a plot to assassinate the king and turned in the conspirators. I once learned that Mordecai’s citizen’s arrest that saved the king’s life put him on legal par with Haman (according to Persian custom), so that Mordecai was not required to show the prime minister any special respect.
Haman’s accusation is still chilling to me. It is a bigoted and intentionally inaccurate claim of one person that sought to denigrate and slander a whole group of people.
Sadly, the spreading of such untruthful statements happens all too readily today. It can cause great damage to everyone within a society.
In the case of the book of Esther, read the story and you will discover that Mordecai and Queen Esther succeeded in exposing Haman’s lies and hatred.
There is another passage that gives me pause in the first chapter of the book of Exodus. This narrative forms the basis of the upcoming Jewish observance of Passover, the festival of freedom: “Pharaoh said to his people, ‘Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. 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 a-rise from the ground.’ So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor....”
These verses feature a strong ruler expressing disdain and, moreover, fear, about increasing number of descendants of patriarch Jacob living in Egypt. They likely constituted a mere minority of the population. However, Pharaoh imposed upon his subjects his own irrational fear that were too many Israelites living in their territory. He decided to exert control over them by oppressing them with slavery, a policy that the people dutifully and sadly accepted.
Read the story and you know that fear did not serve the Egyptians very well at all. It led to disaster. It always does.
The message embodied in both of these observances on the Jewish calendar is to give up on hatred and love one another as ourselves.
That approach will enable us to overcome fear and to a world filled with hope.
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