Dear Friends,
Happy Purim!!
While rereading the Book of Esther earlier this week, I noticed something that had previously escaped me and I’m finding it offers some powerful and relevant lessons for our own day.
Let me step back a bit.
As the story of Purim unfolds, Esther finds herself living in the castle unaware of the palace intrigue that is brewing. Mordechai, who refused to bow to Haman after the latter was elevated to the second most important position in the land, receives word of Haman’s evil plot. The text tells us,
When Mordecai learned all that had happened, Mordechai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went through the city, crying out loudly and bitterly, until he came in front of the palace gate; for one could not enter the palace gate wearing sackcloth.
Esther learns that her uncle (cousin? adoptive father?) Mordechai is observing traditional Jewish mourning rituals and she is distressed. The text tells us:
Esther summoned Hathach, one of the eunuchs whom the king had appointed to serve her, and sent him to Mordechai to learn the why and wherefore of it all. Hathach went out to Mordechai in the city square in front of the palace gate; and Mordechai told him all that had happened to him, and all about the money that Haman had offered to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. He also gave him the written text of the law that had been proclaimed in Shushan for their destruction. He bade him show it to Esther and inform her, and charge her to go to the king and to appeal to him and to plead with him for her people.
A brief back and forth between Esther and Mordechai ensues with Hathach the eunuch serving as the messenger. Eventually Hathach delivers Mordechai’s final, and ultimately convincing, argument:
“Do not imagine that you, of all the Jews, will escape with your life by being in the king’s palace. 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.”
Esther jumps into action. And THAT is the last we hear of Hathach.
Here was an individual, a non-Jew, who risked his own life for Esther, Mordechai, and their people. He could have refused to be their messenger. He could have revealed Esther’s true identity and her connection to Mordechai and helped Haman advance his evil plot. He might even have been rewarded for such actions. But he didn’t. Instead, he remained loyal to Esther, played a key role in allowing Esther and Mordechai to put a plan in place that might save the Jewish people and then… he’s gone.
The rabbis of old took note of his disappearance. They were disturbed that such a pivotal individual would simply disappear from the story and offered a Midrash as explanation.
According to the rabbis, Haman saw Hathach going back and forth between Esther and Mordechai. He became suspicious and then grew paranoid. Afraid the eunuch was part of a plot to ruin his plans to annihilate the Jews, the Midrash tells us Haman walked over to Hathach and killed him. (Yalkut Shimoni).
Hathach reminds us of the Righteous Gentiles during the Holocaust and those outside our community who are standing with us during this challenging time. It is easy to focus on the silence of so many when Jew hatred rears its ugly head, but as Hathach reminds us, there are always those individuals who are willing to stand up and speak out on our behalf, often at personal risk.
His and their story should never be overlooked or under-appreciated.
Interestingly, my colleague Rabbi David Wolpe also gravitated to the unfinished story of Hathach this year. He writes:
To choose the side of light; to report people’s words accurately and fully, to be honest — in other words, to be an ally — all of this is found in the seemingly slight character of Hatach… the Rabbis could not believe, given their own experience, that a non-Jew would take such risks on behalf of the Jewish people. We are fortunate enough to know otherwise. To all the Hatachs in our world, thank you for helping us overcome the Hamans. May we continue to stand together demonstrating the qualities of our too little-known ancestor—fidelity, honesty and courage.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Purim Sameach
Rabbi Daniel Cohen