is looking for here , before she takes the leap , is a sense of solidarity with her community . She needs to know that even though she has in some senses rejected them by keeping her identity as a Jew secret , her fellow Jews still consider her a member of the tribe .
I can ’ t think of a more critical message for our time and place this Purim . Mordechai is right . The Jewish community will find a way to survive .
But Esther is also right . That survival is predicated on knowing that we are all part of this fight – born Jews , Jews who came to us in love , Jews who are observant , Jews who are not observant , non-Jews who love Jews , any human being who believes in the tenets we hold dear . Each of us may be walking into the king ’ s courtyard now , but not one of us is doing so alone .
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