For tech entrepreneur, ancient Purim saga a modern wake-up call

The story of Purim is less a miraculous saga about a group of courageous Jews triumphing over evil, and more about what happens when a Jewish community assimilates in a land outside of their own.

At least, that’s the story tech giant Michael Eisenberg aims to tell in his new book published in both English and Hebrew, “The Vanishing Jew: A Wake-Up Call from the Book of Esther.”

Eisenberg explained his unique interpretation of the Purim story and its contemporary message in a conversation with Rabbi Benny Lau at an event hosted by Times of Israel Presents on Sunday evening. The discussion, which took place at Jerusalem’s Beit Avi Chai, was moderated by Matthew Kalman.

“Michael’s book is without any humor at all,” warned Rabbi Benny Lau, head of the Ramban Synagogue in Jerusalem, during his opening remarks. Lau wrote an introduction to the book and gave Eisenberg early feedback on the manuscript.

Eisenberg said he approached his interpretation of the Purim story through the same lens in which he makes his investments, joking, “My wife says I see everything through economic eyes.”

Eisenberg is a venture capitalist with his fund, Aleph Partners. The company has backed a number of successful ventures including WeWork, Anodot and Houseparty.

As he casually recited paragraphs of the Book of Esther verbatim, it became evident that, despite being known for his career as a seasoned high tech investor, Eisenberg was no novice to Judaic studies.

In writing his own book, Eisenberg said he broke down the Book of Esther’s 10 chapters to understand how the kingdom’s economics affected the Jewish community’s status at each point in the story.

“The first chapter [of the Book of Esther] is about a giant party, which is described in absolute Hollywood terms,” Eisenberg explained to the crowd. “The first chapter is about wealth and then the last chapter tells us about the taxes that King Ahasuerus and Haman levied on the people of Israel.

“It ends with an economic story and it starts with an economic story because, in all likelihood, the reason the Jewish people stayed [in Persia] was for the economy, because they got invited into the halls of power and the halls of economic success,” he said.

But the Jewish people’s fate takes a turn for the worst in the Purim story when the kingdom’s coffers start to empty. “There’s nothing to provoke anti-Semitism like a bad economy. We can cite prewar Germany for that,” Eisenberg said.

“I view the story entirely as a short story of anti-Semitism and a very long story of assimilation,” Eisenberg said.

One of the book’s most controversial depictions is of Mordechai as the anti-hero. Queen Esther’s cousin and adopted father, Mordechai is commonly viewed as a protagonist in the Purim story for saving the Jewish people from the evil villain Haman.

Rabbi Lau seemed genuinely impressed by Eisenberg’s chutzpah in calling out Mordechai.

“Did your hands shake when you wrote the things about Mordechai?” Rabbi Lau asked.

In response, Eisenberg said his book is less of his own interpretation of Mordechai and more a look into what the unknown author’s intended message was when writing Mordechai into the Purim story.

Eisenberg points to the fact that it took Mordechai over two months to decide to save the Jewish people when they were in danger, during a period of time in which he was managing the House of Haman. In a sense, Eisenberg said, Mordechai was acting as the “secretary of the treasury” and could have taken action.

“It troubles me. I won’t hide that,” Eisenberg said of Mordechai’s role.

To Eisenberg, Mordechai’s hesitancy mirrors the Jewish world’s limp reaction to ever-increasing assimilation outside of Israel.

“I find it somewhat odd that we see a lot of Jewish people saving the whales and not saving the Jewish people,” Eisenberg said to murmurs of agreement among the largely Anglo crowd.

“I wrote the book out of worry more than anything else. And the more I travel and give lectures in America, the more worried I get,” Eisenberg said.

The story of Purim, for Eisenberg, is a cautionary tale about Jews living outside of their own land. “The Book of Esther takes very seriously what happens when God makes a call to Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel] and we don’t come back,” Eisenberg said.

“[Jews living outside of Israel] are our brothers. I think that at 70 years as the State of Israel, we need to grow up and be responsible,” Eisenberg said.

Unlike Mordechai, according to Eisenberg,  the Jewish people cannot afford to hesitate.

Eisenberg’s answer to assimilation is, for him, obvious: to invest — as he does —  both financially and in mind, body, and soul in the State of Israel.

The solution, said Eisenberg is, “a deep commitment to identity. To say, ‘Hey, we’re going to do good, we’re going to create a great economy so that [Israel is] an attractive place [to live] so we can preserve Jewish identity.'”

In other words, it is time for Jews to come home to Israel.

Eisenberg concluded, “We can build a vibrant economy [in Israel], and a tolerant and wonderful state that can accept in all of these people where they keep their Jewish identity.”

Check out the next Times of Israel event:

BRITAIN AND ZIONISM: BALFOUR TO THATCHER
Azriel Bermant & Elliot Jager

The Balfour Declaration was issued in 1917. Soon after, Britain backtracked on its commitment to foster a national home for the Jewish people. Even under Margaret Thatcher, an avowed friend of Israel, British ambivalence continued. Why? Book launch and discussion with Azriel Bermant, author of “Margaret Thatcher and the Middle East,” and Elliot Jager, author of “The Balfour Declaration: Sixty-Seven Words — 100 Years of Conflict.”

Tuesday, February 27, 7:30 p.m.
Mishkenot Sha’ananim
Jerusalem
Tickets NIS 40 HERE

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