As the Jewish community marked the holiday of Purim this week, a group of anti-war Jewish activists and allies occupied Trump Tower in New York in protest over the planned deportation of legal U.S. resident and Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil. The timing of such an act of civil disobedience, while coincidental, is profound. The holiday of Purim is a testament to the will of Jewish self-preservation, intricately entangled with the liberation of all peoples.
Briefly, the Purim holiday tells the story of Haman, advisor to the Persian king, who plots to kill all the Jews in the Empire. The secretly Jewish Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai foil Haman's plan when Esther reveals her Jewishness to her husband and convinces the king to spare her people from genocide. Many consider this the most joyous day on the Jewish Calendar. My children and their friends at their preschool, for example, dressed up and celebrated with parties and parades all week long.
