We are accustomed to thinking that unlike Chanukah, where the spiritual life of Am Yisrael was primarily at risk, Purim represents a situation in which the main objective, from the outset, was to physically eliminate all Jews from the kingdom of Achashverosh. According to an insightful analysis of the Beis Ha-Levi, however, we learn that the anti-Jewish policies of the Persian kingdom underwent some revision and were more pernicious than has been thought.
When Esther beseeches Achashverosh about the decree that had been promulgated to kill all of her Jewish brethren, Achashverosh responds by asking what person took it upon himself to try to implement such a plan? As the Beis Ha-Levi notes, Achashverosh himself had approved this decree at Haman's urging. Unless one suggests that Achashverosh had a very short or confused memory (which some do), this question makes little sense. Rather, we must look carefully at what Haman actually requested and what Achashverosh understood.
Haman noted that Jewish practices and religious concepts were different than those of all other nations that were part of the kingdom. He therefore requested that Achashverosh order the Jews be destroyed; in Haman's words Yikateiv L'Abdam - they should be 'lost'. But the word L'Abdam does not convey only the meaning that they should be killed. (Note, for example, the verse U'Baoo Ha'Ovdim M'Eretz Ashur - at the end of days, those Jews who have been 'lost' in foreign lands will return to Yerushalayim.) Achashverosh understood that since the problem with the Jews stemmed from their different religious practices, he was ordering that they should be forced to leave their monotheistic belief and their special religious rites in order to blend in better with the other peoples of the realm. In a word, Achashverosh wished to cause the Jews to assimilate through forced conversion. As an evil incentive, those Jews who refused to convert should be killed.
Achashverosh issued the essential order and then, as was the custom of kings, he instructed his closest advisors to compose the precise wording of the order and see to its promulgation. This was the context in which Achashverosh told Haman that he could do with the Jews as he wished, meaning that Haman could accomplish the royal order through whatever means he deemed appropriate (L'Asot Bo K'Tov B'Einecha). When it came to the writing of the decree, however, Haman reversed the order. As Esther reports to Achashverosh, the decree actually read: L'Hashmid L'Harog U'L'Abeid. Haman's main aim was to eradicate the Jews completely; perhaps some Jews might be spared, but only if they wished to convert.
We now understand why Achashverosh reacted so strongly to Esther's indictment, and we also understand why Esther employed two distinct and partially repetitious clauses in the course of her supplication to Achashverosh: how can I bear to witness the evil that will befall my people and how can I bear to witness the loss of the people of my heritage (literally, of those who have been born with me). In the first clause, Esther was lamenting the many Jews who would never accept forced conversion and would therefore be killed as Jews - this is the evil that will befall Ami, those who will steadfastly remain Jews to the end. And secondly, how can I witness the 'loss,' through forced conversion and assimilation, of those who were born as Jews (Moladiti) but who might succumb to the nefarious forces around them.
The Beis Ha-Levi's intricate interpretation reminds us that anti-Semitism, whether brutal or subtle, seeks to diminish the Jewish people at any cost. Purim tells us that with the guiding hand of the Ribbono shel Olam together with our mesiras nefesh, we can overcome whatever tactic or strategy is used against us.