The holiday of Purim is a constant reminder of a truth that we Jews often
target and that is, there are evil and cruel people out there who wish to do away with us. They have certainly been trying to do this for a long, long
time. Call them what you wish - anti-Semites, Jew haters or anti-Zionists;
they have but one goal and that is the same goal that is described in the
Megillah - the destruction of the Jewish people. When Haman turns to King Ahasuerus and tells him that there is a notion that ought not to be permitted to exist, he is whispering into the King's ear, "that nation is Israel".

It is very difficult not to be loved. There are among us those who
think that If we are not loved or admired or permitted to live in peace to
develop our own special gifts, it is never the other guy's fault, 4 is always
ours. All that is required for peace and harmony to exist in the world is that we
the Jewish people, show them how good we are and how well intentioned we
are. If we only give them just a little more, then all of our difficulties will
disappear. A little Christian or Muslim love is all that is required. And once this
love has been demonstrated, they all will know the obvious - what nice
people we Jews are. This in essence, has been the response of many on the liberal left side of the political aisle. There is a continual beating of the breast
proclaiming in loud tones "Mea Culpa", as if all or any of these efforts would bring
some relief or some end to our difficulties. It is this absurd belief that Amalek and Haman and Hitler and Stalin and Saddam Hussein and the Mullahs of Iran and Arafat and his minions will look upon these efforts of ours as indications of what a delighful people we are. Yet reality seems to reflect another another truth. It will make no difference to our enemies what we would give them or however we would demonstrate our goodwill. Instead it will be perceived as a sign of weakness and treated with contempt. It will only double their evil efforts at murder and mayhem. This notion that all that is ever required for peace and love to exist is to show goodwill and to love each other rests upon the opinion that goodwill and love are fundamental human traits that will overcome every obstacle. They may be the desiderata but they are not fundamentally within the nature of the beast.

The nature of the beast may be more akin to what the Torah tells us. When
Hashem, after having reviewed the entire event of the Mabul (Deluge), reflects,
He says"the imagery of man's heart is evil from his youth," This means that man
receives the evil inclination from birth before he has the wisdom and maturity to combat it. Man's animal instincts are inborn while the intellect and
spiritual desire for self-improvement must be inculcated and developed with time
and maturity. There is evil in the world and there are evil beliefs and opinions. Evil cannot be appeased, it cannot be wished to go away, it cannot be
denied, as Jews denied the intent of Hitler in those critical years just before the
second World War.

This is in a sense, the story of Purim. You know that the story comes to a happy end only because Haman, his family and his cohorts are hung and
destroyed, then and only then, was the evil temporarily removed from our doorstep.

The *Goodists", a term that seems to have been coined by Bret Stephens, are
generally too trusting and too well intentioned for their own good. If you
listen to them, the great challenges of poverty, hunger and disease are the cause of war and hate. There is no doubt that these challenges are pervasive,
difficult, painful and oppressive, but these scourges have always been with us. They do not explain the brutality or the desire for our death voiced by our enemies. The "Goodists" deal in terms of moral relativity as if the long lines that
Palestinians have to endure to ensure Israel's safety. is equivalent to the homicide bomber who destroys a busload of innocents. The enemy is never
satisfied unless they obtain everything and in our language today, that
means the destruction of the Jewish state - Israel. So if anything, Purim ought
to be, in spite of the gaity that surrounds it, a wake up call to the fact that
unfortunately, evil is alive and healthy and is with us In Israel, the democracies of Western Europe and In the corridors of enlightenment that line the universities of the United States.

BUT PURIM ALSO TEACHES US THAT THE GUARDIAN OF ISRAEL NEITHER SLUMBERS NOR SLEEPS. THE ONLY ISSUE IS WHEN WILL THE SALVATION COME. IT COME SOONER THAN LATER.