Nachmanides, a leading Torah scholar of the Middle Ages (known as ‘Ramban,’ an acronym for Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman) noted that any change from the normal in a written biblical Hebrew word or letter alerts the reader to a hidden meaning.
One of these instances occurs in the Book of Esther where three Hebrew letters are written differently with the list of Haman’s ten sons:
1. The letter ת ‘Tav’ is small,
2. The letter ש ‘Shin’ is small,
3. The letter ז ‘Zayin’ is small, and
4. The letter ו ‘Vav’ is large.
The sum of the three letters Tav, Shin and Zayin has the numerical value of 707.
The vav is a six, as in the sixth millennium or 5707,(5000+707) which is equivalent to 1946 AD in the Gregorian calendar. This is the exact year when ten high ranking Nazi war criminals were hung following the Nuremberg trials. Julius Streicher, one of the ten war criminals, shouted, “Purim fest 1946!” as his last words before being hanged. Clearly, he understood the significance of Purim.
There is a striking parallel between the ten sons of Haman the Amalekite and the Nazi war criminals! The hanging occurred on October 16, 1946 (Tishri 21, 5707) on “Hoshana Rabba,” the day when, according to Jewish tradition, God’s verdicts are sealed on the final day of Sukkot. Maybe, Julius Streicher had recalled a speech of Hitler in 1944, stating that if the Nazis were defeated, it would mean a second Purim for the Jews!
Esther’s request for Haman’s sons to be hanged the next day on the gallows was prophetic. The Hebrew word, ‘mecha’ (tomorrow) can also mean, ‘future.’ This bears timeless testimony to all expressions of anti-Semitism. God invariably metes out judgement against those who seek evil against the Jewish people, for as we read in the Book of Zechariah 2:8, “Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession.” (NLT)
Anti-Semitism is the seed of the spirit of Amalek. Hillel Ben David wrote that “Wherever you find someone with a fanatical, implacable and illogical enmity to the Jewish people, you have found Amalek. His very existence is founded on his antipathy and hatred for the offspring of Jacob, the agents of that bondage, called conscience.
Amalek is called the first of the nations. He was the first of the nations to attack Israel. Everything that is first contains the blueprint of all that is to follow. The seed comes first. Contained in the seed is the tree. Amalek is the bitter seed of Jew-hatred.”
God’s promise to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you (Israel) and curse those who curse you (Israel)” (Gen 12:3) is not limited by restriction or time.
The first word used for “curse” ( מְקַלֶּלְךָ֖ ‘mekalelcha’) in Gen. 12:3, has a root meaning, “to make light of something heavy.” The second word for “curse,” (אָאֹ֑ר ‘aor’) has a different root meaning, “to utterly destroy.” So, what God was saying to Abraham infers that He will, “…bless those who bless (Israel) but those who (even) disrespect (Israel) He will utterly destroy.”
Beware enemies of Israel and the Jewish people, God is not mocked! Purim bears stark witness to this throughout time unto the end.
Raphael ben Levi
www.mekudeshet.co.za
