Speaking up and Celebration of Purim

Tonight starts the celebration of Purim, for many known as the Jewish carnival. In many families it is a pleasant day for the kids they being allowed to dress up and them looking for presents which are sent by family members and friends. First the children were asked to fast and to keep those things that the like much, to share with others who have less then them.

From today until Schmini Shel Pesach the final day of Passover on Nisan 22, commemorating the Splitting of the Red Sea, the climax of the Exodus from Egypt, and the day when we focus on the final liberation, the one that’s yet to happen. We look at the days of or moments of liberation the Hashem has given to His People. These days we remember the time of Moshe and Estêr, but also we reflect on the way God is with us all the time.

Starting with the commemoration of the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from the wicked Haman his plot

“to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day,”

as recorded in the Megillah (book of Esther).

Esther before Ahasuerus, by Franciszek Smuglewicz, 1778

The Jew-hating Haman, appointed prime minister of the Persian Empire under King Aḥašvērōš, convinced the king to issue a decree ordering the extermination of all the Jews on the 13th of Adar, a date chosen by a lottery Haman made.
Mardəkī or Mordecai galvanized all the Jews, convincing them to repent, fast and pray to the Most High Elohim. After the first wife of the king had been executed for failing to follow his orders, he arranged a beauty pageant to find a new queen. A Jewish girl, Esther, found favour in the king’s eyes and became the new queen, though she refused to divulge her nationality. After Haman had required to kill the Jews Esther revealed to the king her Jewish identity, which would mean when the decree would be executed his beauty and loved one would be killed also. To avoid such drama Haman was hanged and instead of him Mordechai was appointed prime minister. A new decree was issued, granting the Jews the right to defend themselves against their enemies.

On the 13th of Adar, the Jews mobilized and killed many of their enemies. On the 14th of Adar, they rested and celebrated. In the capital city of Shushan, they took one more day to finish the job.

Since Haman had thrown lots to determine when he would carry out his diabolical scheme this remembrance period is also called “Feast of lots”.

Queen Estêr (Esther) is the heroine of the Megillah tale, and has been a character used in several films and some ballets. From a simple girl she could take a very high position, which made her able to use her influence to save the Jewish people. But this was only possible by revealing her nationality. She could have been quiet and let the Jews been killed, but preferred to speak, endangering herself. Though the king madly in love with her did not kill her but killed the man who had asked for the Jews to be killed.

Married to a non-Jew she was stuck having the privilege to live in a palace, and the years after this event was still unable to join her people in their celebrations. She had saved her people, but could not save herself from her ‘castle-walls’. She was trapped, living between two worlds.

We have to take care we get not trapped, but also that we do not stay silent. Certainly in these times when we can find more and more people who do find that this world only belongs to (trinitarian) Christians. Looking around and following the news, we hear several times a week how Jews are bullied or even how certain people try to kill Jews on the street (like the incident in Antwerp last week).

Rabbi Michael Knopf who writes extensively on matters of halakhah (the Jewish legal tradition) a few days ago wrote about Purim and the Responsibilities of Privilege and looking at our position in this world wrote:

We cannot be truly safe, truly free, truly prosperous, until everyone is safe, free, and prosperous.

He also remembered Martin Luther King, Jr. who wrote,

“I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” (“Letter from a Birmingham Jail”).

These coming days we especially look at the way God helped His People and how they acted in their life on the way to the Promised Land. Most of them never saw that place which could have been an ‘heaven on earth’. Throughout history we have seen many pogroms and years of torture and killings of our ancestors. These days we can remember them but also remember the liberation of so many. Because these days that is going to be our focus, how the Elohim is there to help us and to guide us to be able to live in a world which does not like the Children of God. Going up to Pesach, the climax of the year 15-22 Nisan, remembering the Passover and liberation of Gods people.

The Rabbi reminds us:

If you are reading this column, chances are good that you are among the ranks of the most fortunate people to ever live.
Mordechai‘ s challenge to Esther is, therefore, our challenge as well. When there are those in our world, in our country, whose lives are at risk, do we stand by, fearful that speaking up will cost us our position? Or do we remember that our fate is bound up in their fate, too, and perhaps we have attained our privilege for just such a crisis?

This was the question of Esther’s time. This is the question of our time. As we celebrate Purim, let us honor Mordechai’s challenge, and recall Esther’s heroic response. {Purim and the Responsibilities of Privilege }

On the Israel Forever Foundation website and on Inspiration from Zion: This is a Love Story we also find the warning

Today we are not witnessing the Holocaust but there are world leaders who advocate for the elimination of the Jewish State. There are individuals who openly declare that the genocide of the Jewish people should have been completed. Antisemitism is again becoming something that is socially acceptable to express in public. {Purim: Not to speak is to speak}

And a question

In a world where Antisemitism is again becoming socially acceptable, where Jews are told that they cannot be both feminists and Zionists and many Jews are afraid to speak out about the injustices against our people – what message could be more relevant? {Purim: Not to speak is to speak}

 

+

Additional reading

1. Purim or Ta’aniet Estêr
2. Beginning of weeks for the Feasts of deliverance
3. The son of David on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread
4. High Holidays not only for Israel
5. 8 Reasons Christian Holidays Should Not Be Observed
6. Observance of a day to Remember
7. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
8. Day of remembrance coming near
9. Actions to be a reflection of openness of heart
10. Solution for Willing hearts filled with gifts
11. Vayikra after its opening word וַיִּקְרָא, which means and He called
12. Deliverance and establishement of a theocracy
13. Preparation for Passover
14. A new exodus and offering of a Lamb
15. Sukkoth, Gog, Magog, Armageddon, a covenant and Jerusalem
16. Wednesday 5 April – Sunday 9 April 30 CE Pesach or Passover versus Easter
17. Most important day in Christian year
18. Most important weekend of the year 2016
19. This day shall be unto you for a memorial and you shall keep it a feast to the Most High God
20. 14-15 Nisan and Easter
21. 14 Nisan a day to remember #1 Inception
22. 14 Nisan a day to remember #2 Time of Jesus
23. 14 Nisan a day to remember #3 Before the Passover-feast
24. 14 Nisan a day to remember #4 A Lamb slain
25. 14 Nisan a day to remember #5 The Day to celebrate
26. Easter holiday, fun and rejoicing
27. A Great Gift commemorated
28. Jesus memorial
29. Thinking about fear for the Loving God and an Invitation for 14 Nisan
30. What to do in the Face of Global Anti-semitism

+++

Related articles

1. Esther Nine: Purim
2. Shabbat, Purim, and What Makes You Happy
3. Of Hats, Pockets, Ears, and Hidden Messages
4. If the Shoe Fits (Purim)
5. Purim and Living Between Worlds
6. Purim To The RescueThe Purim Miracle 1
7. The purim miracle 2
8. Deceit Meets Truth at PurimPurim… The Invisible Hand – By MarcPurim: Not to speak is to speak
9. Purim or Feast of lots
10. Purim Sameach!
11. Purim | Looking Beyond the Smoke, Mirrors & Masks
12. The Rebbe on Parashat Zakhor and Purim (March 23-24, 1940 in the Warsaw Ghetto)
13. For Such a Time as This
14. Kosher Wine and Show Tunes on tap for Purim
15. Rav Avigdor Miller on Drinking Like a Goy on Purim
16. The holiday of Purim
17. #Purim Life Takes A-Way M’om’ents; Thy Divine Sight, Makes A-Weigh For More Meant/Mentorship of Meritorious M’om’entum’s Immaculate/Infinite/Evolutionary Worthiness Exalted Renaissance Orientated C’om’munion’s……………
18. Purim, Exile, and Redemption
19. Purim and the Responsibilities of Privilege
20. The Coin Flip (Purim)
21. Purim: The Upside Down Drama of Esther
22. Esther 9, the Jews triumph, Purim celebrated.
23. Purim 2018
24. The Purim-miracle 4
25. For Such a Time as This