Haman wrote one of the most chilling documents in Jewish legend. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, Haman composed a letter "with the consent of all the prefects, governors, rulers, and all the kings of the East," sealed with the ring of Ahasuerus. In it, he compared Israel to a great eagle whose wings once spread over the whole world until the Medes broke them. Now, Haman warned, the eagle was growing new feathers.
Haman distinguished his plan from every previous attempt to destroy the Jews. Pharaoh had targeted only the males. Esau wanted to kill Jacob but keep his sons as servants. Amalek pursued Israel but attacked only the weak. Nebuchadnezzar exiled them but promoted some to power. Sennacherib relocated them to a land like their own. Haman proposed something total: "to destroy and to blot out all the Jews, young and old, women and children, and all on one day, so that there be no seed left in the world."
He rewrote Jewish history from the enemies' perspective with deliberate distortion. Moses was a "wizard" who plagued Egypt through "enchantments." Joshua defeated Amalek by whispering spells. The Israelites were thieves who robbed their neighbors before leaving Egypt. This inverted narrative was designed to convince the nations that Israel had always repaid kindness with treachery.
The nations wrote back with an unexpected response: "We fear lest they do the same to us as they did to our forefathers. Whoever touches them touches the apple of God's eye. Their God has called them the stone of foundation, and whenever it is moved He shall replace it." Haman wrote again, arguing that God had grown old and weak, unable to save His people from Nebuchadnezzar. The nations finally consented. But Mordecai met three schoolchildren that day, and their Torah lessons gave him the answer he needed: "Take counsel together, and it shall be brought to nought."
LXXXI. (1) 'I, Haman, who am great before the king,
and second to him, who am the chief of the potentates, and
seventh among the princes, and who am the most favoured
in the kingdom — I, Haman, do write with the consent of
all the prefects (eparchs), governors, rulers, and of all the
kings of the East who lend their aid, and with the consent
of all the royal princes. We all with one consent, with one
mouth, with one speech, and in one language, write down,
with the permission of King Ahasuerus, and seal it with
his ring, so that it cannot be retracted, concermng the
great eagle, whose wings were spread over the whole world,
so that no bird, beast, or animal was able to stand before
it, until the great Mede arose and smote it with one great
blow, by which its wings were broken, its feathers plucked
out, and its legs cut off, thereby giving the whole world
rest, peace, and tranquillity, from the time it wandered
from its nest until this very day. We now see that it
wishes to grow and to increase its feathers and to spread
out its wings again to cover us and the whole world, and
to rend us in pieces in the same manner as it rent our fore-
fathers who preceded us.
(2) ' On this account all the great men of Media and
Persia have here assembled, and with the permission
of the king we all of us with one counsel write to you
to spread out nets to catch this eagle, whose strength again
increases, and bring her back to her nest, to pluck out
her feathers and to break her wings, to give her flesh to
the birds of the heaven, to destroy her seed, to crush her
young, and to root out her memory from the world. Our
242 [Lxxxi. 3
counsel is not like Pharaoh's, who decreed only concerning
the males, leaving the females; nor as Esau's, who said,
" Now that the days of my father's mourning draw nigh,
I will kill my brother Jacob, and make his sons my
servants "; nor like Amalek's, who pursued Israel, and
slew the weak, but let the strong remain; nor like
Nebuchadnezzar's, who exiled them, and, giving them rest,
promoted some to the throne of the kingdom; nor like
Sennacherib's, who brought them to a land like their own;
(3) but with a united wish, we have decided to destroy and
to blot out all the Jews, young and old, women and children,
and all on one day, so that there be no seed left in the world,
that their children act not as they did to our ancestors, to
our fathers, and our great men, for those who did good to
them they rewarded with evil. We would be justified even
if we took only revenge for Pharaoh, who did many good
deeds for them, for he made Joseph, a servant, king over
them and over all Egypt, and when his father and brothers
came to him, he gave them the very best part of the
land to dwell in, and maintained them during the years
of famine, so that his people increased and multiplied in
the land, and a prophet arose among them, Moses by
name, the son of Amram. He was a wizard, and brought
upon Pharaoh, upon his household, and upon his land,
great plagues, awful and extraordinary. The people then
rose up in the middle of the night like thieves, and,
after robbing their neighbours, went out of the land. But
Pharaoh, with his army, pursued them for their property,
and they entered the sea through the enchantments of the
Israelites; but they did not know by what means they had
entered, and they were all drowned in the sea, thus return-
ing evil for good.
(4) ' When they arrived in the wilderness, a certain
old man, a descendant of Esau, offered them a feast in
honour of their ancestor Jacob, and after they had eaten
and drunk and enjoyed his feast — Joshua their wizard did
not cease with his enchantments — but they spread their
hands and whispered with their lips, until our ancestors
Lxxxi. 6] 243
became weak through him, as it is said, " And Joshua
weakened them "; nor was this alone sufficient for them,
but they made a decree that our name should be blotted
out, as it is said, " Thou shalt destroy the memory of
Amalek." They did likewise to the kings of Midian who
dwelt there, for they spoiled and slew the Midianite kings,
their prophets and their priest they slew at the edge of
the sword, and had no mercy upon them, as it is said,
" And Balaam, the son of Beor, they slew with the sword,
also Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings." Also the
thirty-one kings and seventy elders. Then arose their
king, Saul, who destroyed all the seed of Amalek, and
had not our ancestor Agag been preserved, there would
not have been one single survivor. They strengthened
themselves against our kingdom, and destroyed us, not by
means of the spear or the sword, but, having built a large
house, they entered therein, and when they came out, they
caused the nations to fall down before their words by
means of their wiles.'
(5) "When the nations of the world read this writing,
they sent back word to Haman, saying, * Whatever thou
hast written we know, but we fear lest they do the same to
us as they did to our forefathers and our ancestors, for we
shall perish at their hands. Cease, therefore, from them,
for whoever touches them touches the apple of God's eye,
for they are called " The people near to Him," as it is said,
" And the children of Israel are the people near to Him; they
are His beloved. His treasure, and His inheritance." Now,
Haman, what wilt thou do ? for see what happens to those
who pursue them, see how the mighty men of the world
have fallen beneath them. We therefore do not wish to
lay hand upon them, for their God has called them the
stone of foundation, and whenever it is moved He shall
replace it.'
(6) Haman once more wTote to them, saying that ' their
God, whom you fear so much, does not fight their battles,
nor does He avenge their wrongs; He only did so in His
youth, but now He has become weak, and has no more
16—2
244 [LXXXI. 7
power to wreak vengeance; for if He had, why did He not
deliver them from Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed His house,
burnt His temple, and slew His young men, and before
whom He had no power, for the remnant was then exiled
to his land (Babylon). And now though they are prisoners
in our hands, we wish to intermarry with them, but they do
not wish it. They, on the contrary, despise us, and
account us as reptiles and creeping things; if a fly happens
to fall into one of their cups, he throws it out and drinks
the wine, and if one of us happens to touch the cup of one
of them, he throws it on the ground and breaks it. If we
ask them for anything, although we desire to return them
double, in order to unite them to us, they do not wish it,
but despise us and our kingdom. It is therefore our desire,
with the king's consent, as well as the consent of the
princes, rulers, governors, and pashas, to destroy them
utterly from the world, both young and old, women and
children, in one day, as it is said, " Come, and let us
destroy them." '
(7) As soon as the surrounding nations heard this, with
one accord they consented to destroy the Israelites, as
it is said, ' Those kings counselled together,' etc. One
day when Haman was walking along, with the princes of
the kingdom following him, Mordecai, while walking in
front of them, met three children just coming from school,
and said to them, ' Tell me each of you what lesson you
have learnt to-day.' The first one replied, ' Do not be
hastily terrified.' The second replied, ' Take counsel
together, and it shall be brought to nought;' and the
third said, ' Until old age I am He.' On hearing these
replies Mordecai rejoiced, and gave thanks to God. When
Haman met him, he said, ' What did these children tell
thee?' And he replied, 'They told me good tidings.' At
this Haman's anger was kindled, and he commanded the
children to be captured, saying, ' I will stretch forth my
hand first against these children.' [End of the letter.]
