Masking the Truths
Purim is a Jewish holiday which falls this year on March 12th. The holiday of Purim, found in the Book of Esther or Megillah, tells of the near destruction of the Jewish people by the evil Haman, who was the advisor to King Ahashuerus. According to the story, Haman convinces the King to kill all the Jews in the town of Shushan. Haman has it in for the Jews as they will not bow to him. Haman has a plan to kill all the Jews on the Hebrew date of the 13th of Adar. The King’s wife, Queen Esther, has hidden her Jewish background from the King. And in the end, the Jews are saved by the heroic Queen Esther, whom the king loves dearly. When he eventually finds out Esther is Jewish and the plan that Haman has, the King instead kills Haman and his sons. And the Jews live happily after. In fact, it must be noted, that Esther’s duplicity and the hiding of her background is what allowed her to get into the Kings court and become Queen.
Indeed, Purim is the most raucous holiday of the Jewish year. It is customary to dress-up in costumes and make lots of noise when the story of Purim is read and Haman’s name is mentioned. And one is to be so inebriated that you cannot tell the difference between the cursed Haman and the blessed Mordechai. It is common during Purim to see many wearing masks, as well as costumes. Some say the custom of wearing masks, actually started in Italy during the 13th century.
Purim is a holiday that honors, in a sense, duplicity. The story describes how one can try and hide one’s motives, values and deeds, but in the end, they will be discovered. As I think about this holiday, it has much meaning in the world that we find ourselves in today.
First, there is the obvious relationships that can be seen with our own government. Many feel that some of our President’s advisors are being less than genuine in their motives. That much of what our White House is engaging in is just political machinations which has to do more with ego and material gain, than the good of the people. Watching the White House maneuver, it is hard to sometimes see altruism and the value of work for nothing more than the public good. And while I do understand that we don’t all have to agree on all issues, and we do have different world views, I don’t see an administration that is trying in any way to be reconciliatory and try and bridge our differences as a nation. What I do see are “Kings” who are ruling with a meanness and a lack of compassion, that I have never seen before.
Yesterday I read a story about the idea that our Administration has become a Kleptocracy. For those not familiar with the word it means a society in which the leaders make themselves rich and powerful by stealing from the rest of the people. The article, Welcome to the Trump Kleptocracy, describes an administration with no boundaries, no sense of a conflict of interest, and who has made billions from foreign investments. And it would appear that there is nothing we can really do about it as a citizenry. We make noise, we protest, we ask to see tax returns, we try and stop big business from sitting in our Cabinet positions, but in the end, it appears we can do nothing of it now.
Our leaders wear masks and hide, as they did in the story of Purim. These masks serve a dual purpose; To both hide behind and also to not reveal the true nature of what these leaders motives actually appear to be. We have some leaders, who have become quiet. We don’t hear much from them. They are not truly leaders anymore, but followers. They follow their leader because in the end, they are hoping to get some of their own narrow focused issues passed. It might be Pro-Life issues, or cutting environmental protections or maybe it is getting rid of the Affordable Care Act, which has been a thorn on their side from the beginning. They look the other way and hide behind their titles to get their own agenda passed. For them, the ends do justify the means.
There are also those leaders who do stand in front of the camera. They say they want change and want to make America great again. But in the end, many of their ideas and plans will only help a narrow constituency and most likely their own pockets and values. Again, not necessarily taking into consideration, “We the People.” For instance, we hear about a revision of the tax plan which many say will only truly help larger wage earners. Or child care tax credits that won’t do much to help low-income individuals. These leaders wear masks to cover their true intentions and self-interests.
I have been amazed at the titles of the Memoranda and Executive Orders that have been made. When you look at the titles, they look to be both compassionate and going in a direction we would all want. But let’s look at just three of them:
- Minimize the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal. This order was designed to weaken procedures, protections and regulations regarding the ACA. (#13765)
- Border Security and Immigration Enforcement and Improvements. This order directs the “Wall” to be built along our southern border. (#13767)
- Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States. This one says federal grants will be withheld from “sanctuary cities. “ (#13768)
With each order, the wording masks the actual intent of the the actual order itself. We see “Minimize the Economic Burden, Border Improvements, Enhancing Public Safety….” Don’t these words sound nice? It makes it much more palpable for the masses and I wonder how many actually read the small print.
Our Administration wants to mask themselves off from the news media. Our President calls the media the “enemy of the people.”Just this week there was a Press Briefing, that blocked many news sources from attending, such as The New York Times and Los Angeles Times. That made AP and Time magazine boycott this briefing too. What masks does the Administration wear, that they do not want the press to have free access to their briefings? Are they hoping to be able to frame their “news” in an unopposed manner so as to be able to keep their masks on, to the citizens?
Another area that has been masked from the general public is the role that Russia played in hacking and infiltrating our election. In January the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI released a report detailing hacks of the Democratic National Committee. And there has been some insinuation that the Russian’s have material on our President, which might explain his continued support of the Russian regime. And we were told that there will be an investigation into these charges. After all, wouldn’t any American want to know what the scope of the Russian government interference in our government would be? Again, there were some who came forward and wanted an investigation. I have my doubts whether anything will ever become of it.
We currently live in a world where we do not always know who wears the masks and who are behind those masks. The story of Purim has a happy ending. Because Esther hid her true identity, the King fell in love with the Jewess. And in the end, this was a positive outcome. Esther saved the Jews! I only hope that in the end, some of the leaders of our country will remove their masks. I hope they will realize it is important to stand up for what is right, stand up for the greater good of this nation and stand up to an administration who has not only worn a mask, but has truly wanted to put up a wall, to appease the nation and to not be forthright with their motivations and individual self-interests. As we celebrate Purim this year, it will have special meaning for me as a holiday where we hope our leaders will come forward and lead our nation and reconcile citizens on both sides of the aisle and hopefully take off the disguises that constrict them. And if they don’t, it will be up to responsible citizens to try and strip away their masks to give transparency for all to see.
