There isn’t much that puts a smile on our faces these days—especially now with war in Iran beginning. We pray Gd will protect the US and Israeli forces and bring them to a swift victory.
Speaking of victories. I’m not much of a hockey fan, but last weekend, the dramatic Olympic overtime victories by both the U.S. Women’s and Men’s hockey teams over the Canadian teams—whether you like hockey or not—have made all Americans smile. Both games bordered on the miraculous. Both were so close—nail bitters—that ended in overtime 2-1! There was only 2 minutes left in the game when the US Women scored their 1st goal. After 58 minutes, it looked like they were never going to score. Well, they tied it 1-1 … and then won it in overtime on a stellar goal by Megan Keller. So exciting!
The victory by the men proved even more special since it was their 1st gold medal since the 1980 “miracle on ice” over the Soviets. That the Canadian team had been so dominant and had beat the US in overtime in 2010 for the gold made last Sunday’s victory even more delicious.
The best moment for me was watching Jack Hughes—one of 4 Jewish members of the team—celebrate in ecstatic fashion with his teammates after he slipped a shot through the legs of the Canadian goalie for the overtime victory. Jack had lost 2 teeth in the game and with his gap-toothed hockey smile he said: “This is all about our country now. I love the USA . . . I’m so proud to be American today.” Well, both teams filled me with joy and pride as both an American and as a Jew!
This is an appropriate time on the Jewish calendar for joy. As the Talmud (Taanit 29a) teaches: “When we enter the month of Adar [which we are currently in], marbim b’simcah, we should increase our joy.” Why? The answer is obvious: because we have a holiday fast approaching—Purim! The commentators ask: Don’t we Jews always have holidays coming up? If you want to be pumped up about holidays, why not wait till Tishre/September where we have an entire month of holidays? Anyone who works for a company knows what it’s like to have to explain taking off the Jewish Holidays every September.
One might say the special Joy of the month of Adar is because the Jewish people were saved in the Purim story. Well guess what, if you wait just one more month we have a bigger holiday—Passover—with a much better story. In the Passover story there are lions and tigers and bears—Oh my—and blood, locusts, darkness and a split sea. When we celebrate Passover next month, we’ll have a lot more fun recalling the demise of our enemies.
If you take a close look at Purim you might say, “It’s not necessarily the most exciting story we have.” The story of Purim finds the Jewish people living in Shushan—modern day Iran. There was a king named Achashverosh and his evil adviser Haman who got him to sign a law saying that in 11 months all the Jews can be murdered without consequence. It just so happened that Queen Esther was Jewish. At a party she made she looked Haman straight in the eye and accused him of trying to kill her and her people. King Achashverosh then changed his mind and killed Haman instead. The Jews then were able to defend themselves and survive.
Does this sound like such a unique story to you? Someone hates us; they tried to kill us; we figured out a way to get around it and survived. What do you think Happened every generation since? There were no miracles in the Purim story. No heavens opened up. It didn’t happen in Israel and the Jews didn’t go back to Israel afterwards—they stayed in Shushan. It was a political win for us which most likely happened 100 times since. So, why is Purim the month where we should be especially happy? What’s so special about Purim?
I once attended a funeral of a great man—a leader in a Jewish community. The funeral home was packed. Several rabbis spoke of his leadership and generosity. He was larger than life. The last speaker was his son who said: “As great as you think my dad was, you have no idea—because he was my dad! Yes, he built organizations and took care of the needy. Yes, he went from rags to riches. But you can’t understand, I walked with him to shul every morning. We had breakfast and dinner together every day along with weekends and holidays together. He was my dad. As big as you think he was—he was bigger to me. You only saw the man. I saw the father!”
We Jews have a pretty big dad—King of the world! He can do anything: He can make a little oil last for 8 days, rain manna from heaven, bring locusts and blood—whatever he wants! We have so many holidays where we look up and say, “Avinu Shebashamayim, our Dad in Heaven, is the absolute biggest! But what makes it so special is NOT when He’s big, but when He’s just our Dad. Because if you only see Gd as a King, you only see one piece of Him. If you only see Gd as the entity that changes the world, worries about the State of Israel and hangs out with the holiest people … when you only see Gd as this distant figure you believe in … you’re only getting only one piece of Him.
Purim seems like a nice story: It just happens to be that Esther is the queen … it just happens that Mordechai saves the king from an assassination plot and the king reads about it the night he can’t sleep which is just before he’s about to meet Haman … but none of these things just happen. As Albert Einstein famously said: “Coincidence is Gd remaining anonymous!” Coincidence is Gd in your life.
Don’t think that because you’re not religious enough, learned enough or good enough, then Gd doesn’t love you. Happiness is knowing that no matter who or where you are in this world, Gd is there with you and loves you—because Gd is your Avicha Shebashamayim, your Dad in Heaven. Feeling Gd’s unconditional, parental love is the greatest source of joy.
At the beginning of the Purim story when Achashverosh needs to replace Queen Vashti, his advisors tell him (Esther 2:3): V’yafkeyd hamelech p’kidim (The king should appoint officials) … v’yikb’tzu (and gather) the beautiful maidens so he could choose a new queen. These are the exact same words Joseph used when he interpreted Pharoah’s dreams and told him (Gen. 41:34-35) to appoint officials and to gather in the grain from the 7 years of abundance to come.
What’s the connection? Just as Joseph’s advice led to him becoming Prime Minister, the advice of Achashverosh’s advisors led to Esther becoming the queen. These were 2 of the highest-ranking Jews ever in history—a Prime Minister and a Queen! But that’s where the similarities end. Joseph was taken out of a dungeon where he had been imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit to go before Pharoah. After that his life was wonderful. The Midrash (Megillah 13a) tells us that Esther was actually Mordechai’s wife—forcibly taken from her husband to marry Achashverosh as part of the new queen’s beauty pageant. After that her life was filled with terror.
The deep message is that no matter where the advice comes from—from someone as righteous as Joseph or from someone as disconnected from Gd as Achashverosh’s advisors … no matter how things look in your life—whether it looks wonderful like Joseph becoming Prime Minister or terrible like Esther forcibly taken from her husband—it’s all good because it all comes from Gd, Avinu Shebashamayim, our Dad in Heaven.
When things work out well for us—like with Joseph becoming Prime Minister, Gd’s hand is obvious and we thank Him. But when things are bad and painful we ask, “Where is Gd. Did He abandon me?” Of course He’s there, He’s always there. Did you know that in the Megillah of Esther Gd’s name never appears? But when you read the story it’s so obvious that Gd’s directing everything behind the scenes. As of now, we know not what will happen this week with Iran. Hopefully it will end quickly with a victory for democracy and peace. But we do know that no matter what, Gd is always there for us.
As for us, my friends, when you have a bad day, when you get into bed and flip over the pillow looking for the cold side—as most of us do, reach underneath it and find that note with your name engraved on the envelope. It’s there after every bad day. It reads: “Dear [your name] I know you had a very bad day. I just want you to know how much I love you and that everything will work out for the best. Love Gd, Avinu Shebashamayim, your Dad in Heaven. With that you can put your head on the pillow knowing that your Divine Parent is always watching over you. And that, my friends, is the joy of Purim. Amen!
