Jewish leaders to guide and safeguard the Jewish People , helping communities to thrive in these tumultuous times . We understand the importance of acting and not being acted upon .
We understand the importance of leading by example and not simply following the crowd . And we understand that true leadership takes the courage to be your authentic self and to stand up for what ’ s right , even when it is difficult and perhaps perilous . At the same time , we know that to do all of this we need to have faith in ourselves , faith in our community , and , yes , faith in God . We know that to do all this right we need to cherish the diversity of our community . We know that to do this right , we need to lead with strength , but we also need to lead with love .
We hope that you will find ideas , strength , and comfort in the pages that follow . Thank you to everyone who made this book possible . Thank you to the contributors who shared so openly of themselves . Thank you to Rabbi Menachem Creditor who puts so much of himself into making this book of such very real value . Thank you to my colleagues at AJR who each in their own way help make these books possible and successful .
As the world is moving so quickly right now , we hope and pray that by the time this book will be used , our hostages will be free , and our world will once again be right-side-up . But until that time , we hope that the messages shared here will be helpful as we prepare for Purim , whether we celebrate with joy , with laughter , with tears , with fears , or with a challenging combination of these emotions .
Wishing you all the courage and determination of Esther .
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