Federation, Board of Rabbis Condemn Purim "Hanging of Haman"

PHOTO: A Purim parade in 1997, via Flickr

A Purim effigy hanging from a window in Spring Valley has created outrage in the community, and more arguing back and forth about anti-Semitism and bigotry.

Purim is a celebratory Jewish holiday, full of costumes, dancing and feasting that commemorates a story of survival that is also recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther -- in which an evil counselor wants to kill all the Jews in the Persian empire, but his plot is foiled by Queen Esther and he is hanged by the king.

The effigy was featured on News12.

Rockland County Board of Rabbis and the Jewish Federation of Rockland County issued a joint statement Friday morning:

The Rockland County Board of Rabbis and the Jewish Federation of Rockland County condemn the insensitive and offensive "hanging of Haman" practice on display during Purim. There is no requirement in Jewish law for this activity. We fully recognize, as do the overwhelming majority of the members of the Jewish community, the powerful and hate-filled memories that such images evoke in modern America. We call on all members of the Jewish and broader Rockland community to behave in accordance with the golden rule, "Do not do to others what is hateful to you." It is only from this principle that a society that respects differences and celebrates diversity can be built. We look forward to continuing to work with all groups in our diverse society with the goal of building, as America’s founders wrote, "a more perfect Union" and "to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity."

Rabbi Craig Scheff, Chair, Rockland County Board of Rabbis

Steve Gold, Chair, Jewish Federation Community Relations Council

Gary Siepser, CEO, Jewish Federation of Rockland County

OJPAC posted this in response to the News12 feature.

According to the Clarkstown: What They Don't Want You to Know Facebook page, the same thing happened last year, only the doll was dressed in Caribbean garb.