The deadline President Trump has set for the passage of legislation to adjust the status of nearly 1 million young people who were brought to the United States as undocumented immigrants by their parents is March 5, just days after Jews worldwide celebrate the festival of Purim. During Purim, which begins Wednesday night, we read the Book of Esther, which tells the story of a vain, corrupt leader willing to sell out a vulnerable people for his own convenience and invites us to consider the obligations of those not targeted to those who are.
In the story, we meet Ahasuerus, king of Persia — who may or may not be modeled after Xerxes I. He was quick to anger, easily bribed, and fond of displaying the “vast riches of his kingdom and the splendid glory of his majesty.”
His top adviser is a vicious despot named Haman. When Mordechai, a Jew, refuses to bow down to Haman, the aide decides to “do away with all the Jews” in the kingdom as revenge. A personal grudge turns quickly into bias against an entire people and plans to destroy them.
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