Assad’s Blood-Soaked Comeback, and Syria’s Dismal Future
No stability here.
February 23, 2016
The Book of Esther’s Lesson about Politics, War, and Morality
Mordecai the Machiavellian.
The biblical book of Esther culminates in the mass revenge by Persian Jews on the anti-Semites who were planning to slay them in accordance with Haman’s plans. To many modern readers, this description of a two-day orgy of violence is a source of discomfort or even embarrassment, with some synagogues omitting the passage from the public reading of Esther on the holiday of Purim. Yoram Hazony, however, argues that this segment of the book conveys a powerful lesson about the difficult moral territory that must be navigated by those in positions of political power:
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Login or SubscribeFebruary 23, 2016
What Would the End of the EU Mean for Israel?
Shrinking would be better than collapse.
Justin Trudeau’s Invisible Jews
Remembering the Holocaust without identifying its victims.
The Book of Esther’s Lesson about Politics, War, and Morality
Mordecai the Machiavellian.
A Catholic Wanders among Brooklyn’s Hipsters and Ḥasidim
The romanticization trap.