Letters
We should know a Haman
The surprise, disappointment, and sense of betrayal expressed by some contributors to these pages, and by many Jews in Israel and the United States, regarding Trump’s about-face and rush to embrace a fraught peace in the Middle East that fulfills none of his stated objectives would be laughable if it were not so profoundly sad.
Trump has consistently pursued an ego-bloated, overarching obsession — to make himself richer and more powerful, to abuse anyone who offended him, and to aggrandize himself. His motivation has nothing to do with the well-being of any nation, people, or person, or any idea, principle, policy, or cause, and is without regard to sense, logic, truth, reality, or decency.
The fact that a significant minority of Jews, including those who are sufficiently educated to study Talmud, previously praised Trump for his strong ties to Israel and to the Jewish people suggests not only that these individuals no longer conceive of our people as aspiring to be a light unto the nations, but have lost the ability to distinguish light from dark and sense from nonsense.
True, we have many formidable enemies, and our people are at risk everywhere. But to jump into the mouth of a ravening wolf for aid, laud that wolf to justify the decision, and express surprise when the wolf bites us? Even the archetypal son at the Pesach seder who lacks the ability to understand would understand that to extol such an individual was, and is, a foolish and contemptible choice by people who should know a Haman even when he panders to them.
Theodore M. Eisenberg
North Caldwell