On the holiday of Purim, Jews worldwide celebrate the salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian empire. In the face of Haman’s imminent genocidal decree upon the Jewish People, Mordechai directed his niece, Queen Esther, to approach the King and beseech him to save her people. Esther was understandably reluctant because she could be killed immediately for entering the king’s chamber without being summoned.

In the face of her demurral, Mordechai responded with strong words, telling her, “If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, while you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows, perhaps it is precisely for this opportunity that you became queen” (Esther 4:14).

Understanding that this was the reason she had ascended to royalty and influence, Queen Esther made an immediate about-face. Rising to the occasion, she instructed Mordechai to tell all Jewish residents of Shushan to fast and pray for three days and nights and upon the conclusion of the three days, she would approach the king uninvited. “And if I am to perish, I shall perish…” (4:16)

Her strategy worked, Haman and his 10 sons were hung, and the Jewish people were saved by G0d.

Fast forward two millennia, and another Jewish leader named Henry Morgenthau Jr. (1891–1967) would experience his Queen Esther Moment when the Jewish people were being threatened with annihilation. He was born in New York City to a prominent family of German Jewish descent. His father, Henry Morgenthau Sr., was a successful real estate investor and diplomat, and had served as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during the presidential administration of Woodrow Wilson.

Henry Morgenthau Jr. served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1934, until July 23, 1945. Morgenthau stabilized the US dollar during the Great Depression, helped finance the “New Deal,” prepared the US economy for war, and later funded the war effort by selling war bonds.

He was the only Jewish person to serve as a cabinet member during Roosevelt’s administration. He was very devoted and loyal to Roosevelt, despite the President’s failure to take concrete actions to save European Jewry from the Holocaust or allow Jews to save themselves by immigrating to the United States.

In 1943, several months after the US State Department confirmed Nazi Germany’s mission to annihilate all the Jews of Europe, Morgenthau became directly involved in the rescue of the Jews in Europe.

The catalyst for Morgenthau’s new-found involvement was the advocacy of two Jewish groups: The Vaad Hatzalah (The Rescue Committee), led by America’s leading Orthodox rabbis, and the “Emergency Committee for the Rescue of European Jewry” led by Hillel Kook.

In mid-1943, the heads of Vaad Hatzlalah met with Morgenthau for the first time. Visibly moved by the words of two great rabbis and a lay leader, Morgenthau called Secretary of State Cordell Hull and demanded a joint meeting with the President concerning the Nazi murder of the Jews in Europe. When Hull politely refused, Morgenthau shocked him by responding, “If I do not get the meeting, my resignation will be on Mr. Roosevelt’s desk in the morning.” Morgenthau got his meeting with Roosevelt, and although it did not create immediate changes in US policy, it paved the way for creating the War Refugee Board a few months later.

The Bergson Group was led by Hillel Kook, one of the heads of Irgun in America and nephew of the First Chief Rabbi of Mandatory Palestine, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. One of the Committee’s more well-known actions was a protest Kook organized, known as the “Rabbis’ March.” The protest took place in Washington, D.C., on October 6, 1943, three days before Yom Kippur. The group of over 400 rabbis marched to the United States Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, and White House in Washington, D.C. The March’s success was limited by the actions of some of FDR’s Jewish friends (who were more concerned about FDR and less concerned for their fellow Jews in Europe), including Reform leader Stephen Wise.

A few months later, on January 13, 1944. Treasury staff members John Pehle, Randolph Paul, Ansel Luxford, and Josiah DuBois presented Morgenthau with an 18-page memorandum entitled “Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of This Government in the Murder of Jews.” After reading it, Morgenthau’s immediate response was, “I am physically ill.”

As a result, three days later, on January 16, 1944, Morgenthau personally visited the White House and met with President Roosevelt. The following week, the president issued an executive order establishing the War Refugee Board on January 22, 1944.

Through the efforts of the War Refugee Board, steps were finally taken to save Jews in Europe. Refugee camps were prepared in North Africa, and safe havens were arranged in Mandatory Palestine, Switzerland, and Sweden. The War Refugee Board also lobbied Roosevelt to publicly condemn the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis, which he did on March 24, 1944.

By attracting international attention to the desperate plight of Hungarian Jewry, the War Refugee Board contributed to the cessation of deportations of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz. The Board also sent Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg and others to protect the Jews of Budapest. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee funded Wallenberg’s rescue work through the War Refugee Board.

It is difficult to determine the exact number of Jews rescued by the War Refugee Board. Professor David Wyman (1929-2018), a noted Holocaust historian, credited the War Refugee Board with playing a crucial role in saving as many as 200,000 Jews and 20,000 non-Jews. At the end of the war, considering reports of ill-treatment of the Jews in the DP camps, Morgenthau and the War Refugee Board also convinced President Truman to send an American envoy, lawyer Earl Harrison, to examine the situation personally, and following his trip, the situation in the DP camps improved.

Yet, there was a time during the war when even Morgenthau hesitated. Shortly before Purim, in February 1945, Irving Bunim arranged for an urgent meeting with Morgenthau and was accompanied by Rabbi Aharon Kotler and Rabbi Avrohom Kalmanowitz, both of whom had escaped Europe and were using any means at their disposal to try to save the European Jews.

They came with a desperate request. The “Musy Negotiations” were underway, which involved a payment of close to a million dollars to the Germans in exchange for releasing Jews from concentration camps and sending them to Switzerland. The Vaad Hatzalah had the astronomical sum pledged to them by another Jewish organization. Yet, that organization insisted the Vaad receive official US government approval to transfer the funds through American agents in Switzerland. The Vaad Hatzalah appealed to Morgenthau to grant them official permission. Morgenthau responded that American foreign policy was not to pay ransom to the enemy: “Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute.”

Rabbi Kotler did not speak English, and Secretary Morgenthau did not understand Yiddish, so Bunim had been serving as their translator. However, Morgenthau’s tone was clear to Rabbi Kotler, even before Bunim said a word. The answer was no. Unable to hold back his emotions, Rabbi Kotler looked at Morgenthau with piercing blue eyes. With a voice shaking, he pointed at the Secretary of Treasury and said in Yiddish, “Bunim, tell him that if he cannot help rescue his fellow Jews at this time, then he is worth nothing, and his position is worth nothing! One single Jewish life is worth more than all the positions in Washington!”

After a few awkward moments, Bunim began translating, somewhat softening the Rabbi’s message as he spoke. Rabbi Kotler realized his words were not being conveyed accurately and cried in Yiddish, “Nein, nein Bunim, zugt em vus ich hub gizugt! No! Tell him exactly what I said!” Bunim realized that this was not a time for social niceties.

“Sir … Rabbi Kotler feels that because you are afraid of losing your prominent position in the government, you may be unwilling to help us and your fellow Jewish brothers and sisters. He wants you to know that one Jewish life is worth more than any office.”

Hearing this, Morgenthau turned white and placed his head on his desk, covering his face in his hands.

Finally, Morgenthau raised his head and cried, trembling with emotion, “Tell the Rabbi that I am a Jew. Tell him I’m willing to give up my life — not just my position — for my people.” In the face of Rabbi Kotler’s challenge and words of truth, Morgenthau recognized his Queen Esther Moment. He rose to the occasion and enabled the Vaad Hatzalah to continue the negotiations, directly bringing about the release of 2,000 Jewish women from Ravensbruck. His actions live on eternally, in the lives he saved and the example he set.

We each have our own Queen Esther Moments. A time when we face a choice as to whether we will stand up for the Jewish people and Jewish values. It might be at work, on a college campus, or social media, on onstage at the Oscars. If you are able to stand up and do something, will you? Will you educate yourself and others on Jewish values and Israel’s right to defend itself? Will you proudly wear a Jewish symbol or kippah? Will you write to encourage elected officials and community leaders to support Israel and the Jewish people?

And, if you are like Morgenthau, someone in a position with real influence, will you act as he did, knowing there are values more important than your job or ephemeral popularity?

When your Queen Esther moment comes, what will you choose?

Rabbi Menachem Levine is the CEO of JDBY-YTT, the largest Jewish school in the Midwest. He served as Rabbi of Congregation Am Echad in San Jose, CA from 2007 – 2020. He is a popular speaker and has written for numerous publications. Rabbi Levine’s personal website is https://thinktorah.org. A version of this article was originally published by Aish.

The post A Choice for Each of Us: Purim, FDR, and Henry Morgenthau’s ‘Esther’ Moment first appeared on Algemeiner.com.