What Purim Means to Me this Year
By Joseph Ehrlich
Mar 9 2003
5 Adar II 5763
The events platforming the
celebration of Purim took place between the
destruction of the two temples, when the Jews were in
exile in Babylonia. The Jews were expunged from
Israel due to their sins and lost the first temple.
They were quite remorseful of what had taken place,
and since they returned to a state of dynamic
slavery, Hashem saw that they should be entitled to
another chance of proving themselves worthy of a
return to Israel and ipso facto freedom (from slavery
and worse).
Thus, the events attendant to
Purim are quite significant because it shows the
Jewish people that but for Hashem’s love,
patience, and willingness to forgive and give another
chance, the difference between life and death for the
Jewish people, was a thin line. If Hamman got his
way, it would be death for us all. However, Hashem
intervened and through the events celebrated Purim we
acknowledge that with Hashem at our side, the
impossible becomes possible for the Jewish people.
Regrettably, the dynamics of
this Purim are different and noteworthy. Of
particular note, the President of the United States,
George Bush, intends to make his final decision to
launch contemporaneous with Purim (13-15 Adar II).
Coincidental? Perhaps not. There is a Jewish people.
The line between life and death for the Jewish
people, particularly the State of Israel is thin. A
single man, a Hamman, from Persia, to wit: Saddam
from Iraq can prove the thin line between life and
death for the Jewish people and the future of Israel.
Will Hashem intervene? Is Israel situated, as the
Jewish people would like it to be? Absolutely not.
Are we between the time of the full regiving of the
State of Israel and another putative exile? Do the
Jews face the same threat of being expunged from
Israel, the threat of massive loss of life for the
Jewish people, as in times past?
Many would argue that there is
no idolatry. Idolatry I daresay was never the
paramount issue. The main issue is whether the Jewish
people in Israel honor His name before the other
nations of the world? So, do we? Is the message of
this Purim one that the launch of a war
contemporaneous with Purim is suggestive of victory
or defeat? Will Hashem intervene?
To the optimist, the only answer
is the poverbial, “Of course,” we are His
children! To the realist, however, Purim represents a
period where we rejoice that G-d intervened to return
us to Eretz Yisroel. However, when he did for the
time of the second temple, we must remember, in the
context of this year and its historic events, that we
did not prove worthy of it, and we were cast into
exile.
After two thousand years of
exile, Hashem returned us to Eretz Yisroel in 1967
(5727) yet again as promised by Torah. Purim this
year therefore carries special dynamics calling for
us be introspect as historic world events unravel and
we confront dangers we have not faced for a very long
period of time. This will be the third time when
events around Israel will either show the Jewish
people worthy or unworthy of Israel. This requires
deep thought and discussion to honor our historic
good fortune and that now we should realize that we
perhaps have taken too much for granted in expecting
as a given that we will be spared from the onerous
consequences of today’s Hamman. End