Call it the reason why we celebrate Purim; why we each make special, concerted efforts to fulfill the four mitzvot of the chag: To listen to the Megillah (twice), to give matanot l’evyonim, to give mishloach manot and to eat our Purim seudah, before dark. It’s because the Purim story is not just the story of Esther; it’s also the story of us.
Call it intergenerational trauma. Call it intergenerational transmission.
We go all out for Purim and dress in the silliest of costumes and make the craziest mishloach manot because that thin guise that separates a safe society from a murderous one is sometimes as thin as a line of neon-clad police officers on Roemer Avenue. Or one community leader courting lies and presenting them as fact.
When we could be crying and lamenting our lot, on Purim we laugh and hug our children tighter (and avert our eyes, just for today, as they eat way too much candy).
We know that Megillat Esther is as relevant today in New York and New Jersey as it was in Ancient Persia in the time of Mordechai and Achashverosh. We know that hateful lies and murder exist in the hearts of our enemies, even today. We also know that, like Esther, we must be the people who stand up. Haters are coming for us, on the Upper West Side, Englewood and even here in the (formerly peaceful, sleepy) town of Teaneck. They’re coming with their Palestine flags and their red paint balls and their grotesque ignorance of history. And here we are, poised to act.
Perhaps it was for just this time that we were placed here. Perhaps it will be as was warned: If we do not act, relief for the Jews will come from other sources, and as Mordechai assured us, relief will come. This is our chance to act, to fulfill our mission and purpose. And to be true and upstanding Jewish and American citizens.
This happens by virtue of prayer to Hashem, by showing up in our civic affairs and by being brave. We must speak the truth even when others are screaming for our destruction—maybe even especially when others are screaming for our destruction. It is for these moments that we must act.
One thing we should cling to as we read Megillat Esther this year?
We won. Eventually.
