Netanyahu Gives Obama a Megillah, A Not So Subtle Message About Iran.

Right before the Jewish holiday of Purim (this year on March 8), Netanyahu met with Barack Obama in the White House. On the agenda was the nuclear threat from Iran (the seat of ancient Persia). The Prime Minister's gift to Obama, a Megillas Esther (a scroll retelling the miracle of Purim) was not lost on anyone who knows the story: many centuries ago when the Jews of Persia were threatened with annihilation, the leadership of Mordechai and the Jewish Queen Esther strengthened the commitment of the Jewish people to their faith to the point that a great miracle was wrought for them and they defeated their enemies. 

In our time, the Rebbe said that because we are in the era of the Redemption, "Jews can maintain their Judaism with great strength and mastery, also over the nations of the world, for it all depends on their will."

(Parshas Vayigash, 1992)   

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Netanyahu Gives Obama a Purim Message to Heed

By Jeffrey Goldberg Mar 7, 2012 11:45 AM ET     

Earlier this week, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, visited President Barack Obama in the White House. The two met together with their national-security advisers for 90 minutes, then had a 30-minute chat alone, then moved to a lunch together with various high officials of their governments.

Many words were exchanged during these meetings, but it turns out they all might have been superfluous. Netanyahu delivered his overriding message quite efficiently, and almost wordlessly, in the form of a gift to the president.

The gift he handed Obama was a copy of “Megillah of Esther,” the scroll that recounts the heroics of Queen Esther in ancient Persia.... 

The scroll tells the story of the beautiful Esther and her cousin, the wise Mordechai, and how they plot -- successfully -- to keep the evil vizier Haman from murdering Persia’s Jews.

The Real Message

The prime minister of Israel is many things, but subtle is not one of them. The message of Purim is: When the Jews see a murderous conspiracy forming against them, they will act to disrupt the plot. A further refinement of the message is: When the Jews see a plot forming against them in Persia, they will act to disrupt the plot, even if Barack Obama wishes that they would wait for permission.