Every year Jews joyously drown out the vocalization of the name Haman, blotting out this descendent of Amalek. Much of this joy is rooted in knowing that Hashem’s providence carried us through this crisis. Against all odds, we triumphed after Haman’s worrisome ascension to great power, a power he seemed to relish in its ability to be used against Bnei Yisrael. It seems like we are never short of having haters obsessively focus their hatred onto us, modern day Amalek rearing their head to carry out the mission of our annihilation that Esav gave his grandson Amalek, a constant threat in every generation.
What is this seemingly illogical hatred that our enemies appear to be possessed by, their anger akin to idol worship? In Shemos, the Torah says that Amalek “…do not fear G-d.” In fact, Haman would have others bow down to him in a contrived manner that was akin to idol worship. Perhaps we joyously drown out Haman’s name because Bnei Yisrael know that no matter what the antisemitic sentiment of the masses is, no matter the machinations of the powerful, Hashem can redeem us in a blink of an eye, as the gallows of Haman bear testament to. May our fear of G-d eclipse any fear of the masses or their powerful supporters. Like Mordechai, do not bow to Haman.
