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March
2008 / Adar II
5768 Dear Friends:
Mishenikhnas Adar Marbim BeSimkha! – As the Hebrew month of Adar commences joy increases! The Rabbis taught that the holiday of Purim was so powerful in its joyous celebration that its spirit permeates the entire Hebrew month of Adar, the month during which the Festival of Purim falls annually. On Purim, we read Megillat Esther – The Scroll of Esther – and rejoice together with the Jews of ancient Shushan as we celebrate the miracle of Jewish continuity, then and now. On Purim we celebrate Jewish heroism in facing down external threats to the safety and security Klal Yisrael -- the community of Jews living anywhere and everywhere worldwide. Some of these threats have been violent and others ideological. Whichever the nature of the challenge, our dedication to one another has kept us and sustained us.
In our own day, there are those who seek the destruction of the Jewish People just as Haman and his followers had such designs in ancient Persia. Still, I have chosen to focus this piece upon the more subtle challenges of faith to the contemporary striving for Jewish continuity. In the world in which we live today, the average Jew may be thought to be less faithful than in eras gone by. The Festival of Purim serves as an important reminder that our People’s diversity of faith is one of our greatest strengths, and that it has been so for a very long time.
To begin, for many of us, a belief in God and God’s role in the unfolding of history is central to our sense of Jewish faith and Jewish identity. It is therefore striking that there is not one single reference to God in the entire Megillat Esther! If one reads the entire Scroll of Esther, one finds that there is not a mention of God or of God's role in our ancestors' successful escape from the murderous intentions of Haman and his followers. The drama of Purim unfolds devoid of God’s voice and without any Jewish petition to God for help or guidance in the face of a mortal threat. The faithful among us might have expected more from a book of the Bible!
The Rabbis of the rabbinic period were troubled as well by God’s absence from this chapter in our Biblical heritage. They found numerous ways to ‘read God between the lines’ of the Megillah. Some of their imaginative insertions of God’s presence work better than others. But, even in those moments when the Rabbis’ efforts seem to marry well to the text and to its unfolding drama, the question remains, "why is God absent from the text of the Megillah itself?"
Consider the following: It is true that many Jews believe in God. It is also true that our respective beliefs about God may differ in significant ways. It is even the case that there are many Jews who do not believe in God at all. The purpose of Purim is to unite all Jews – regardless of our theological preferences or differences. The miracle of Purim is the miracle of Jewish Peoplehood. As far as Purim is concerned, and as far as we are concerned on Purim, the day is a day of faith; a day upon which we celebrate our faith in ourselves! Our faith, on Purim, is in the ingenuity, strength, and resolve of the Jewish People. And, as the story of the Megillah certifies beyond any doubt, our faith is well placed when placed in one another.
Ultimately, Purim offers an important message to those Jews who would ever imagine judging others among us as less faithful or worthy: Even God is willing to absent himself for a day in our lives -- from a book of our sacred Torah - if such absence might lead to the greater unity of God's children. If God can take so dramatic a step for the sake of Jewish unity, certainly we, as God’s People, should find ways to accommodate one another to enable a present and future of harmony and unity.
May we rejoice together with all of Klal Yisrael as Purim approaches. – Hag Sameah!
Spiritual Leader |