By Rabbi Eli Teitelbaum

While some may mistakenly believe King Achashverosh was a very benevolent king who saved the Jews, our Chazal tell us otherwise. By repeating his name twice at the very beginning of the Megilah, they make a very important point says Rashi. "He was wicked from the very beginning to the very end." He did what was best for him and not what was best for the Jews. Understandably, the Megilah went through strict government censorship and this fact could not be written outright. However, Mordecai and Esther had an ingenious way of slipping this information right past the sharp hawk eyes of the censors by simply repeating his name, knowing that clever Jews reading the Megilah would figure it out..

When the Jews were in danger of being wiped out by all their anti-Semitic enemies, all King Achashverosh seemed to be able to do for them was to grant them the right of self defense. Instead of decreeing Haman’s edict illegal and warning the people not to dare touch a Jew, he was nice enough to allow them to defend themselves for only one or two days. Hardly enough time for the Jews to really finish the job and get rid of all the many anti-Semites. Just imagine, an entire people were about to be murdered and he was unable to repeal or revoke a law just because it had been stamped with his signet ring. The law seems to supercede murder when it was the Jews that they were after. A real friend of the Jews! (sic.)

Queen Esther knew that the only time she could possibly get the wicked Achashverosh to rescind the evil decree was when the King was totally drunk. Perhaps this is why she decided not to make her request of him the first night. It was only on the second night of the party after she observed that the King had a few cups too many that she felt ready to accuse Haman of planning to destroy the Jews.

The very last pesukim in the Megillah reveal his true intentions There it says that he raised taxes. While this fact doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the story of Purim, Chazal are just trying to tell us that the King’s real motive for saving the Jews was in order to collect lots of taxes. The Jews could always be counted on to fill the king’s coffers. He wasn’t the benevolent Jew-loving King he was made out to be. He had ulterior motives.

Today, too, there are many that claim that they are out to help Israel and act as peacemakers, yet, we know where the "road map" will ultimately lead if we follow its course. They claim that they are out to make peace but refuse Israel the right to build a fence or target well known terrorists claiming that it infringes on the rights of the Palestinians and hurts the peace process. They speak of "disengagement" and a Palestinian state all in the name of peace, even though it can chas v’shalom, easily cause the destruction of all of Israel. They pressure Israel into releasing hundreds of terrorists which ultimately will only lead to more terrorism and the demand to release additional terrorists. Relying on Abu Mazen to protect Israel from terrorism or dismantle the terrorist infrastructure is like putting a fox in charge of protecting the chickens. Giving them territory only whets their appetite will lead them to demand additional territory. The more you give, the more they will demand. Ultimately, they will demand the return of all Palestinian refugees. Just remember that their charter has still not changed despite all their promises of "Peace in our time."

There probably where many Jews who claimed that Mordecai was guilty of incitement for his stubborn refusal to allow Jews to go to Achashverosh’s party or to bow down to Haman. This they claimed put all the Jews into jeopardy. Things turned out quite differently. It was Mordecai stubborn refusal that saved the Jews from destruction. Today, too, there are Jews who accuse our rabbis of harming Israel by denouncing the disengagement and peace talks, and even praise Sharon for his brilliant peace strategy. Yet, like those times gone by, it will once again be proven that our rabbinical leaders know far more than our best politicians and greatest generals. Only by listening to our true Torah leaders will we bring peace to the Land.