'Was Jesus the Real Villain in the Purim Story?'

I bought a year's subscription to the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, the Israeli equivalent of the Guardian.

Like Margaret Thatcher I normally side with the conservatives in foreign countries but in Israel much prefer the left of centre. 

A headline in Ha'aretz caught my eye the other day. 'Was Jesus the Real Villain in the Purim Story?'

Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people by Esther after Haman, his vizier, nearly persuaded Xerxes the Great of Persia to kill all the Jews.

From Ha'aretz:

'"When the Jews say Haman, they are also thinking deep down about Jesus," says Israel Yuval, a professor of Jewish history at the Hebrew University. "Our hatred of him is actually a projection — or maybe sublimation is a better word — of our feelings for Jesus."


'It could explain, he says, the age-old Purim tradition of drowning out the name of Haman with noisemakers during the megillah readings. "Nobody really knows where this custom originated," he says. "But that's my interpretation of it. It's the quiet understanding that Haman refers to Jesus. In this way, the anti-Christian sentiment of Jews finds an internal expression — noisy but hidden."


'Yuval presented his theory on the Haman-Jesus connection at a gathering of Jewish and Christian liturgists earlier this month at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. Titled "Jokes and Jests in Religious Rituals," it was the first time this annual event was dedicated to Purim and what many see as its Christian counterpart — Carnival. As evidence that Jews have long drawn parallels between Haman and Jesus, Yuval cites a decree issued by Emperor Theodosius II in the fifth century prohibiting Jews from burning effigies of Haman. "Clearly, such a ban wouldn't have been issued if there wasn't good reason to believe that it was really Jesus who was being targeted," says Yuval. '

The evidence Professor Yuval offers for his theory does not amount to anything. I don't believe a word of it. 

His talk is however a reminder that, unlike Muslims and many Hindus, Jews do not venerate the Jew who had most influence in history.  The expression 'Judeo-Christian' was coined for American domestic reasons.

I remember being startled in an Isaac Bashevis Singer story where Jesus is referred to as 'Our enemy' in a grace recited before dinner.

On the other hand, many Jews in Israel have converted to Christianity. I met a couple when I was there. They told me more and more were doing so. 

How wonderful. South Korea and China are steadily becoming more and more Christian. Why not Israel too? 

After all Christianity is a very Jewish religion. One sees that clearly in Israel, especially with Jewish Christians.

I highly recommend Ha'aretz and, despite being Zionist, the honesty and balance with which it reports the news from Gaza and the West Bank. It's very different from what the media outside Israel report. Ha'aretz opposes the Israeli occupation of both territories.