3/20/2022 - Purim

One of the first Jewish holidays I became cognizant of, outside of Chunakkah, was Purim. Just glancing at the surface of Purim, I could see what a festive holiday it was and I kept wondering why it wasn't talked about more. Like, why are most non-Jews only aware of Chanukkah? Purim is so cool.

The Book of Esther is a fun and engrossing adventure that made me smile. I love that it is celebrated to its fullest even in the more Orthodox communities. What is so inspiring is that it is yet another recounting of Jewish resilience, specifically, the work of the Jewish people rather than the work of God. The resilience of mankind.  A fearless tale of what Jews will do for their community, and what a Jew of faith is capable of despite all odds.

What I also loved is that it is an empowering story of a woman taking matters into her own hands. To do what Esther dared to do would be undaunting for any gender, but to be a Jewish woman during that time and make such a feat? 6 year-old-me would've put an action figure of Esther next to my Godzilla.

I was pleasantly surprised to read that Purim encouraged festive drinking to celebrate victory. But as I kept reading Jewish Holidays by Michael Strassfeld, I read, "[be so drunk on Purim] to not be able to tell the difference between 'Blessed be Mordechai' and 'Cursed be Haman'" I didn't really understand that until I kept reading and found that Purim can be thought of as mystical/Messianic when the festive drinks create a brief moment where we cannot tell the difference between Mordechai and Haman, good and evil, light and dark, peace and evil. 

"When all other festivals will be abolished [in Messianic times], Purim will remain."

It's a holiday that is both joyous and humbling as we take a step back from ourselves and laugh and satirize our everyday austerity and traditions. For a brief moment, we transcend to a Messianic state and look at ourselves from there.

I think Esther would've been a huge fan of ABBA :)