PURIM ’ S LESSON FOR AN UNCERTAIN WORLD Rabbi Edwin Goldberg , D . H . L .
When I was a student at the Hebrew University in the early 1990s , I loved walking from my apartment in Old Katamon to the beautiful 19 th century mansion that ( then ) housed the Shalom Hartman Institute . My favorite activity was peering into the closet which held educational materials ( for purchase ) about Jewish wisdom and current issues . The best was a twovolume work entitled , Rabbinic Responses to History as Mirrored in Hannukah and Purim . I have taught for years from the insights in these volumes . Here is my takeaway during these turbulent times :
Purim is about joy amid uncertainty . How do you survive in a world in which you are so vulnerable to powers beyond your control ? Purim is about our people ’ s confrontation with brute antisemitism . After great physical threats , we were reborn . And yet we remained vulnerable . Another king or vizier who hates us may arise at any moment . So why do we celebrate ? What makes the scroll of Esther so sacred if in the end certainty is not offered ? And most importantly , why would a great rationalist like Maimonides in his law code declare that on Purim we are commanded to get drunk until we fall asleep ? I believe Maimonides was admitting that all the rationalism in the world does not protect us from hatred and uncertain futures . Therefore , one day a year give into the absurd , because ultimately life is absurd . We remain loyal to God ’ s covenant not out of proof but from faith that God is good even when the world is overturned . Pure evil exists , but despite it we continue to have faith . We celebrate the defeat of Haman even though we know full well there are Hamans out there now .
Purim teaches us how to live with the dream of a world redeemed knowing we live in an unredeemed world .
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