Torah on Immigration: This Purim Take Off the Mask

On Purim we celebrate Esther taking a stand for her people and their right to exist. However, many Jewish people today are fighting against the right of the Jewish people to exist and have their own land, so this Purim take off the mask of political correctness. We cannot continue to put on a mask and be politically correct while Haman is at the door. We must begin to think about what is said in Torah on immigration and borders.

In Esther 8:3-6 we learn, “³ Esther again spoke to the king. She fell at his feet and tearfully implored him to revoke the harm done by Haman the Agagite and the plan he had devised against the Jews. ⁴ The king stretched forth the golden scepter to Esther. So she rose and, standing before him, ⁵ said: “If it seems good to the king and if I have found favor with him, if the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let a document be issued to revoke the letters that the schemer Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, wrote for the destruction of the Jews in all the royal provinces. ⁶ For how can I witness the evil that is to befall my people, and how can I behold the destruction of my kindred?” 

Though it may have meant her death Esther went before the king and begged for her people’s salvation. Why do we honor and celebrate that bravery and then act opposite of it in our own lives?

The Mask of Political Correctness

Here in the US liberal Jews protest against border control which keeps out the Islamic extremist who want to murder Jews. Those same Jews protest against Israel defending herself from the people in the middle east who wish to see her borders stolen and the Jewish people annihilated, Gaza and Iran. This is in direct violation of what the Torah says on immigration and borders.

Torah on Immigration

Torah has a lot to say about immigration. In Torah boundaries are set to protect justice, order, and G-d’s divine command over his people. Boundaries were not about harming others. They were about protecting those inside them from the idolatry outside them. Boundaries support divine justice and rule. So, this Purim, liberal Jews in America, take off the mask and let’s honor Esther for real. Let’s do as she did and defend our country and our people.

Garden Of Eden Boundaries and Immigration

The new age idea that land can’t be owned and that all people are free to exist on all land is in direct opposition to Torah law. From the very beginning of creation G-d set clear land boundaries. G-d’s garden included only Adam and Eve. When they disobeyed his law, they were asked to leave the borders of his garden. Genesis 3:23 says, “So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.” A clear border was set which they could never again cross.

To protect this border and control immigration of outsiders back into the garden G-d placed angels outside the gates of Eden.  Genesis 3:24 states, “²⁴ After he sent the man out, God placed angels ^[a] and a flaming sword that turned in all directions east of the Garden of Eden. He placed them there to guard the way to the tree of life.” In the same way, we set soldiers at our borders. It is not to harm those kept out, but to protect what is within. Torah teaches us that boundaries are necessary to protect G-d’s rule and people. Thus, immigration must be restricted.  Torah and immigration law go hand in hand. One protects the other. By keeping out those who refuse to follow the law of G-d we protect Torah law.

Torah on Immigration and Borders of Israel

However, The Garden is not the only example of immigration law in Torah. When G-d gave the land to the Jewish people, he set clear borders.

Deuteronomy 32:8 states, “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.”

Exodus 23:31 states, ““I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates River; for I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.”

Torah on Invaders

He also gave clear orders about what to do when someone invades those borders. Nehemiah 4:14 says, “¹⁴ After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” Thus, Torah and immigration law are inseparable.  G-d explains that borders are necessary, because otherwise we will learn to assimilate to the strangers’ ways. Thus, leaving the law of G-d behind. This is exactly what we see happening in the US with liberal Jews now.

Torah On Deportation

We again see that The Torah cares about Borders and immigration when Lot leaves Abraham. The resources had become too scarce and rather than cause trouble Lot leaves to find his own place in the world. When resources are tight borders must be protected in order to provide for those within them. People who have been within those borders but not the rightful owners of the land must move on. This is Torah law. Deportation is Torah law.

Genesis 13 reminds us “13 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. ² Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.³ From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier ⁴ and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.⁵ Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

⁶ But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. ⁷ And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.⁸ So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

Boundary Markers in Torah

G-d and Torah cared so deeply about borders and immigration law that the Torah forbids the moving of boundary markers. The borders G-d set for the people of Israel should never change. Deuteronomy 19:14-16 states,”¹⁴ “You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, established at the start in the inheritance you will receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.”

In short G-d set specific borders for the nations of the world. He told us to defend those borders and what is inside them, fight and kill for them, and never allow them to be moved. Therefore, we must not accept and condone invaders and illegal immigration. We have a G-d given duty to defend our people and our land.

This Purim remember that when danger came to the Jewish people Esther did not do what was politically correct. Despite the King having passed a law that all Jews could be killed, Esther stood for her people. Her actions were unpopular, unorthodox, and politically in opposition to the nation’s culture. They could have gotten her killed, but she took them anyway. She stood for her people and because she did, we exist. We must be brave like Esther. We must be willing to go before the king without permission and speak for our people. This Purim take off the mask of political correctness and defend the Jewish people and the state of Israel.