Happy Purim Y’all!

You may be thinking, is it Thursday night already?

No it is not!

While we did lose an hour with the changing of the clocks, you did not lose a day. 

But, Purim is about the unexpected becoming reality, so even though you are not expecting to hear from me, Purim is here and we want to be in the mood!

Today, Batsheva sent out a precious clip of her daughter Racheli, which was recorded a few years ago. In that short video, a young, but very poised and articulate child expressed a very sublime thought. 

She shared that her teacher observed that the princesses we learn about in fairy tales are damsels in distress, waiting to be saved by their prince. 

But Jewish princesses, (and I don’t mean JAPs, those who know, know) are courageous leaders who take the mantle and bring about the salvation as a result of their actions. 

They do not wait for anyone to save them!

Our Queen Esther is a case in point. 

Esther was an orphan. Her father died before she was born, her mother in childbirth. 

It is hard to imagine someone from such challenging circumstances becoming the queen who would save her people. 

The Megillah, or scroll, Esther wrote, is a testimony to the eternal message she conveys to each of us. 

After the Purim story concluded, Esther had to argue that her book would become canonized, as a part of the 24 books of the Tanach, but she was successful because the message of the book is for the ages. 

In the Book, Esther reveals the secret of Jewish continuity, of Jewish survival. 

The arch villain, Haman,  levels an accusation against the Jews, in his desire to find an excuse to be rid of us he states to the King of Persia, that the  Jews are scattered and dispersed among all the people in the provinces of the Persian realm. He is casting aspersions. 

But, sadly, it is the truth.

We had lost our sense of community, of purpose, of peace in our family. 

So when Esther is asked to step up and plead for her nation in the face of imminent destruction she counters with an instruction of her own. 

She commands Mordechai, her uncle, who is the leader of the Jewish nation, to gather the people. 

She instructs all to pray for our salvation together. 

Let them pray as a community that my plan to save our people will be successful. 

She teaches us that only when we are united will we be able to overcome and  survive the annihilation attempt directed our way. 

When Esther is ultimately successful in her efforts, she records the events in her book, words which are referred to as words of peace, and the book actually ends with the verbiage of peace, because she has succeeded in uniting us as one. 

Not only does Esther leave us with the mantra of connection, she even gives us the practical formula to achieve this goal.  

Every year when we celebrate Purim we are instructed to do four mitzvot, four ways to enhance our connection on this day:

1. We read the scroll, Megillat Esther, to remind ourselves of Esther’s message of hope and success-no more fighting, gather as the family you are and celebrate together. 

2. Eat a Seudah, enjoy a festive meal. There is nothing like good food and drink to create conviviality and closeness. 

(And as the old joke goes-

Jewish History 101: they tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat)

3. Mishloach Manot: bringing at least two different types of food to at least one friend or neighbor.  

Once again this sparks connection and friendship. 

You can bring a little food basket to your neighbor who always lets you in when you get locked out of the house to show your undying appreciation for her patience,

or maybe you want to bring a little “peace offering”

to the neighbor whose newly planted flower bed was ravaged by your frisky dog. 

Either way - it brings you closer!

4. Charity: recognizing there are precious people in our orbit who may not be blessed with means and we cannot look away from their pain. How can we sit down to a lavish meal, knowing there are people in our community who lack basic amenities.  By providing gifts to the poor, we see those who often might feel invisible. 

All these four opportunities are yours for the taking, right now, tomorrow, this Thursday. 

And an interesting tidbit, for any of you who are joining from Jerusalem, you can do these 4 mitzvot on Friday, which is called Shushan Purim. 

Anyone who wants to know the reason for that  will have to message me! 

It will be a great way to create connection!

And I love to hear from you all!

The Talmud states it is in the merit of Jewish women we have been redeemed in the past (think Esther, the women in Egypt) and it is in the merit of Jewish women that we ultimately will be redeemed. 

It’s been a long, dark exile. 

Two thousand years. 

What’s going to happen?

Who is going to be the change maker?

Well, if you believe in fairy tales, some prince in shining armor is going to swoop in and save the day. 

But if you believe in Purim, in real life miracles, you know it’s going to be the women that will make the change. 

And that means YOU!

Happy Purim, Shabbat Shalom and So much love!