Things Are Not Always What They Seem or How Sharing Your Hamantaschen Can Make a Big Difference
February 17, 2009
Purim is coming. I hope you’ve got your costume ready. Yours, not the children’s.
Admittedly, Purim is a magical time for children: delicious hamantaschen, the noise and theater of graggers at the Purimspiel, the exchange of gifts (mishloach manot) , costumes, and, of course, the Purim Carnival. I hope all of our congregation’s children (and their parents) will join us in indulging in all of these, even to excess, in keeping with the spirit of the holiday.
At the same time, I hope that this year more of our adults will dial into the serious message Purim, that most hilarious of Jewish holidays, comes to bring us. There is a lot more to Purim than kids’ stuff, and these trying times only emphasize the importance of Purim’s lessons.
The most obvious yet paradoxically hidden message of the Purim story, Megillat Esther (the Scroll of Esther), is: things are not always what they seem. Haman, the powerful court minister, turns out to be weak and cowardly. Mordecai, hardly visible throughout the story, becomes the king’s second in command. The castle guards, charged with protecting the king, are out to kill him. Vashti, who appears in the story only long enough to suffer humiliation by her husband, turns out to be the most honorable person around. Esther, who attains high stature thanks to her beauty, comes through with brains and strength of character to match. And King Ahasuerus, master of 180 provinces, is exposed as an incompetent and a fool, but no anti-Semite. On the day marked for all the Jews of the kingdom to have been slaughtered they instead triumph over their enemies, and rejoice. Those who are high are made low, and the low are lifted up. Events seem to be leading in a certain direction, but then jump the tracks without warning.
In the midst of the worst economic downturn in three generations, with war raging around the globe and the environmental crisis threatening us from all sides, it can be comforting to contemplate that things are not always what they seem. The high will be made low. What is small may become great. Seemingly certain disaster can reverse itself in a moment.
How do these things happen? Esther offers us two paths from darkness to light.
First, be proud of who you are. Stay true to your values. The same ethical purity that got Mordecai in trouble when he refused to bow to Haman also brought him great reward when he overheard and reported, at his peril, the plot on Ahasuerus’s life. Only by asserting her presence—which might have led to death at the king’s orders—and her past—which might have led to death on Haman’s gallows—does Esther save both her people and herself.
Which leads to the second way in which the holiday of Purim teaches us to bring light and joy to a dark world: by standing with our community.
Esther found the courage to act because the community was depending on her, and praying with her. We learn from the Scroll of Esther the tradition and mitzvah of mishloah manot, giving gifts to friends, which, “along with praying and fasting together, teaches us the importance of unity and community. We are responsible for each other, and working together we can accomplish miracles” (Lesli Koppelman Ross, “My Jewish Learning: Jews in Exile” ).
We have so many gifts to offer one another, and we need them now more than ever. This month, amidst the hilarity and silliness of Purim costumes, may we rediscover the strength and the comfort that we share with and gain from others as we join our individual principles together to face a challenging world, together a community of concern.
