Shmuz # 25A & 25B

25A - They don't make anti Semites like they used to
Over the course of history, it seems that there has been no shortage of anti-Semites, people who truly hate Jews and would do anything in their power to put an end to the "Jewish Problem". Yet it also seems that if you ask the common anti-Semite, why is it that you hate the Jew? Likely, he wouldn't be able to answer. I know that you dream about their demise- but why? What is it about them that bothers you so? Yet there was a time when anti-Semites not only hated Jews, but they could tell you why. And that reason is very important for us as Jews to understand. Using Megillas Esther as the background for the Shmuz, we are introduced to the Torah's understanding of why there is Anti-Semitism in the world.

25B - Don't Bite the Stick
Every Jew living in the Persian Empire was aware that it wasn't only Achashverosh and Haman who hated the Jews -There were many, many anti-Semites who could barely wait for the demise of the Jews. Yet, amazingly, Esther didn't think the Jews got it. She carried out a very dangerous plan so that the Jews shouldn't rely on her- that they shouldn't say, "We have a sister in the palace"- rather, they should rely only on HASHEM. Set within the storyline of Megilas Esther this Shmuz brings us to focus on the concept that it is natural to rely on the "ways of the world", and even in times of danger, when it is clear that there is no one else to turn to, it isn't easy to completely rely on HASHEM.