Be Your True Self

The megilah recounts how Haman’s evil decree to exterminate the Jews was not only foiled, it was reversed: the Jewish people became elevated throughout the land.

What won them this prestige? Not an attempt to integrate and assimilate amongst the nations, but the exact opposite: their united stand as proud Jews even in the face of adversity.

And they instilled this pride in their children, and in their children’s children, such that throughout history there was never a question in a Jew’s mind what to do when Torah required him to act differently from the nations around him – Torah’s supremacy was a given. Why? Because just like a fish knows it can only survive in water – no matter how challenging the environment there may be, the Jewish soul knows that only a life of Torah can truly be called a life.