Hi,
Hope you’re having a great day!
And – at least for those of you in Chicago – that you are enjoying the weather!
… We had a great Purim at CTN and I wanted to share something with you.
We had a special reading of the Megillah (Scroll of Esther) for young Jewish professionals.
It was downtown in the JUF building.
And I said a few words before each chapter.
Some background, a few nuggets of inspiration and some stories.
Here’s one:
“Imagine Haman returning in a time capsule!
Haman who wanted to destroy every Jewish man, woman and child.
And he would say, “I’ve been out of touch for around 2500 years.
Tell me what’s going on in the world.”
Suppose he came last week.
And he heard a lot of talk about a big speech.
Then he saw live coverage of someone speaking in front of a huge crowd.
In a beautiful room.
And there were standing ovations. Cheering. And more standing ovations.
“Wow. This looks really important! Who is this guy? And where is he speaking?”
He would be told that it’s Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel.
And he’s speaking in the United States Senate. The most powerful body in the world.
Haman would ask, “What’s Israel?”
“Oh, Haman, Israel is the Jewish state. Close to six million Jews live there”.
Haman would faint.
And after being revived?
He would say, “What! I can’t believe it …
There are still Jews in the world?”
It would blow his mind!
Then I added something else.
There is one thing that would probably not surprise Haman.
What’s that?
That Jews are fighting about whether Bibi should have given the speech!
Because he knew us well.
He knew that Jews are opinionated. Very opinionated.
They can really get carried away. And really fight.
And sometimes it takes a Haman to remind us that we are one.
… Purim is about celebrating the miracle of Jewish survival.
Celebrating being a member of the most amazing People in the history of the world.
And it’s about loving each and every Jew!
It’s like in a marriage.
What shows if someone is a good husband or not?
Is it how he treats his wife on their anniversary?
No!
It’s how he treats her the next day! And the next week …
Purim is behind us.
Now is the test.
So whatever you think about the big speech?
Stick to your guns. That’s fine.
Try to change someone else’s mind. Also fine.
But don’t ever forget.
We need to love each other!
All the best,