Haman’s plot failed. He, and all of his sons were hung on the gallows he had erected to kill Mordechai. Mordechai, only yesterday condemned to death, is today, like Joseph was long ago in Egypt, “second to the King”. Esther is undisputed as Queen. “The Jews had light and happiness and joy and honor (Esther 8:16).”
What about the day after? Other than resolving to celebrate future anniversaries of this escape from total obliteration, as we still do every Purim, did anything change? Did the Jews of Shushan return home en masse to Eretz Yisrael? Did they rededicate themselves to a life based on the Torah and mitzvot mandated by The Creator who had, albeit from behind the scenes, just rescued them?
A common teaching, in danger of becoming mere cliché, is that Yom Kippur, more accurately Yom HaKippurim, is, literally, a day like Purim. There are many parallels: on Purim we begin with a fast and end with a feast while Yom Kippur begins with a feast (eating before the fast is considered to be as important a mitzvah as fasting on the day itself), both days reflect rescue–Purim from communal destruction and Yom Kippur from our just punishments for all our individual misdeeds the previous year.
Another commonality is how often most of us spend the day following each of these holy days–as if the day before had no significance at all.
Will there be a recognition this year that, in each case, we just barely escaped by the skin of our teeth, as the cliché goes, or will we merely check off one more day in our calendar?
Rabbi Zeitlin 
Living in Israel, the threat of Haman is all too real. Purim actually gives us hope – well, gives me hope. I heard jets during Shabbat today. The fact that I heard nothing more than that is a miracle. I don’t think we can’t afford to ‘forget’ the day after. I’m grateful every day that HaShem has kept not only me, but all of Israel safe.
Amen!
* * * HIAS vs Jews * * *
Mark Hetfield, the President and CEO of HIAS (which used to stand for Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), wants to use HIAS to resettle Muslim refugees in Europe and the USA. And he wants Jews to pay for it, by donating to HIAS.
Mark Hetfield fails to comprehend important realities about Muslim refugees:
Most refugees from Muslim countries have greater hatred against Jews than did the average German during World War II.
During World War II, the Muslims were allies of the Nazis, and pressured the British to cut-off all escape routes that Jews might use to escape from Europe to Palestine.
In the decades that followed World War II, the Muslims publicly praised Hitler and acted as havens of refuge for convicted Nazi war criminals.
In Muslim countries, the anti-Jewish propaganda book “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” is a perennial best-seller.
These innocent Middle-Eastern refugees are the children and grandchildren of Arab soldiers who fought several wars whose goal was to “push the Jews into to sea” by destroying the entire State of Israel. Thousands of Jews were killed in those wars; now Mark Hetfield of HIAS wants us to help the children and grandchildren of those Arab soldiers who killed thousands of Jews, and wanted to kill millions of Jews.
These innocent Middle-Eastern refugees eagerly look forward to the day when the entire state of Israel is permanently wiped off-the-map, to be followed by an international genocide campaign whose goal will be to make the entire planet Earth Judenrein – free of Jews.
These innocent Middle-Eastern refugees have already caused thousands of Jews to flee from France and other European nations.
These innocent Middle-Eastern refugees are already quietly boycotting ALL Jewish owned stores and businesses, not just Israel.
Last but not least, HIAS should be defunded and disbanded and dissolved, because they are pursuing policies that will cause another Holocaust.
Mark Hetfield’s HIAS web site never mentions the fact the “H” in HIAS used to stand for “Hebrew”. Maybe that is because HIAS is no longer a real Jewish organization, and does not reflect real Jewish values.
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“According to the original law of Mohammed, there are no innocent civilians.
Radical Islamists consider all people — in or out of military uniform — who do not believe in the original Islam of Mohammed, to be the enemy, until they convert or are subjected to Islamic law.”
SOURCE: They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It (Introduction Chapter, page 3) by Brigitte Gabriel, year 2008, year 2010, St. Martin’s Press, 288 pages, ISBN 0312571283, ISBN 9780312571283.
MICROBIOGRAPHY: Brigitte Gabriel, the author of They Must Be Stopped, is a Christian Arab, born in Lebanon. Arabic is her native language.
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Please help Shurat HaDin SUE the terrorists in court:
http://www.IsraelLawCenter.org
http://israellawcenter.org/pr/terror-victims-win-court-victory-over-iran/
http://www.causematch.com/projects/shurat-hadin-givingtuesday/
http://5tjt.com/the-campaign-that-will-cause-a-storm-in-the-us-a-dubbed-video-in-which-the-speakers-call-to-kill-muslims/
Shurat HaDin’s victory for Israel on FaceBook:
http://www.algemeiner.com/2016/01/08/facebook-finally-caves-on-anti-israel-hate-pages/
Thank you!
PS: Please check out these pro-Israel web sites:
http://www.camera.org * http://www.HonestReporting.com * http://www.memri.org * http://www.ActForAmerica.org * http://www.aish.com