Scattered and Dispersed

 

In Haman's attempt to convince his all-powerful monarch, without whom he cannot proceed to execute his plans for the "Final Solution," the "enemy of the Jews" [Esther 3:10] argued:

"There is a certain nation scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples throughout all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws differ from (those of) every people, and they do not keep the king's laws; it is (therefore) of no use for the king to let them be." [3:8]

            Amos Ḥacham [Esther, Da'at Mikra] comments that Haman's claim that despite their dispersion among the nations, the Jews remain a single nation; "is the claim of the enemies of the Jews throughout the generations."  

            However, there is a deep irony: if the Jews were indeed united as a single nation, despite their dispersion among the nations of the world, they would not be susceptible to their enemies' plots against them. One of the most consistent lessons relentlessly taught by Jewish history is that when the nation is (internally) disunited, we are subject to our enemies' schemes, while national unity protects us from such machinations.