There seems to be something unique about Purim in that it arouses laughter. All of the Jewish holidays are happy. Certainly the simcha on Simchas Torah is very great. Hanuka has an inner joy. There seems to be an additional dimension to eating sweet dried fruit on Tu B’Shevat that isn’t present on other days and davening for a nice esrog on that day really is amusing. Similarly there is joy in eating the festive fruits on Rosh Hashana. On Yom Kippur there is joy when the shofar blows at the end of the fast. Even in the 9th of Av there is a small amount of joy from being privileged to be among those that do mourn for the destruction of the Temple.
People here in Israel start to laugh at the thought of Purim. Once upon a time I had a job as an auditor for a big, prestigious Tel Aviv Public Accounting firm. There was a manager there that had a reputation for being openly anti religious. For whatever reason she wanted me to be on the team for one of her important assignments. The environment was secular Israeli and generally anti-religious. I didn’t agree with them about that but kept my opinions to myself reasoning that I was there to do a job not kiruv.
It didn’t help and one day the manager said that I could no longer work in the same suite with the other auditors. Instead I was banished to a desk in the client’s department. I didn’t care because I was in fact closer to the books making it more convenient. The social aspect including the minor act of ostracism basically flew by me.
Even so at the start of every day I’d stop by the manager’s desk and she’d say good morning and I would reply good morning. One day to her surprise I replied good morning and “good month”. It was all in Hebrew and “hodesh tov” (חוֹדש טוֹב) is a popular greeting. When she reacted with puzzlement because it was the middle of February, I explained, “Today is Rosh Hodesh, hodesh tov”.
In Israel even the secular Israelis know the Jewish calendar and the silliness of the moment brought back favorable memories of Purim. Her attitude about me, religion, and in general promptly changed to a more cheerful outlook. Later that morning she sent a member of the team to relocate me into the suite with the other auditors.
The job didn’t pan out and not too long later an important partner told me I had three or four months at full salary to find another job and I need not come into work. I was unhappy about that but I also wasn’t thrilled about work. I let them know I was just going to go to yeshiva and they kind of winked at me.
Another story: It was a custom in my shul for the children to go to services on Purim dressed in costumes. As a preschooler I told my parents I wanted to go dressed as Queen Esther. I knew nothing of the halacha but something about the holiday wanted me to act this way.
Purim celebrates the victory of Israel over their enemies, but so does Hanuka and Pesach. They too are happy holidays. Pesach has the joy of leaving Egypt, Hanuka has the joy of rededication of the holy Temple, but somehow Purim is pure simcha. It seems that there is something in the defeat of Amalek that brings laughter from the side of sanctity.
Very often we laugh at things that are not so nice. For example we laugh when a friend slips in the mud or gets into an embarrassing situation. These are the traits of Amalek because the evil inclination has captured laughter. The way to really destroy Amalek is to abandon the misuse of laughter. Therefore when Amalek is defeated joy returns to its place in holiness and we experience it in its most pure form. That is why we laugh on Purim.
לע"נ הסבתא טויבע בת יואל לייב ז"ל נלב"ע כה שבט תשכגו
העלון ניתן לקבל בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment