Posts Tagged ‘sensitivity’
How Can We Sing In A Sad World? – Purim 2024
1: None of us are in the mood for an “ordinary” Purim this year. The events since Shemini Atzeres continue to shed their legacy of casualties, captivity and nothing but misery and destruction everywhere. Our sisters and brothers are still held captive in underground dungeons; so many of our sisters and brothers have died or been left injured, or are mourning fresh and untimely bereavements; and the destruction and death continues every day, particularly among the innocent civilians of Gaza who are living a hell on earth that I cannot even properly imagine. And the general mood of antagonism between communities and nations around the world is pretty toxic.
2: So how are we meant to dress up, feast, sing and dance? How do we get in the Purim mood?
3: Well, we could start by asking ourselves, what is the Purim mood? Put another way, what was the mood in Shushan and the surrounding areas at the time of the Purim events?
4: Summarising the events described in the Megillah, the Jewish communities came under an existential threat which they overcame by defending themselves diplomatically and militarily. The Megillah does not recount Jewish casualties during the war of self-defence, but it stands to reason that given the numbers of enemies killed there must have been heavy losses and injuries on both sides; and presumably the atmosphere of antisemitism before, during and even after the events was every bit as depressing and oppressive as at other times in our history and possibly far more than today.
5: But the enduring theme of Purim is not the military victory, but of unreasonable hope and determined reconciliation even in the middle of the worst troubles. Starting with Esther, who says that the way out of her predicament is for the community to fast and pray for her while she and her companions fast and pray for the community. In other words, the Jewish world that at the start of the Megillah is “scattered and divided” starts to pull together and look after each other. And the theme continues all the way through, culminating in the religious legacy of our annual commemoration being a day of looking after others first with food for friends and money for all who need it, before we sit down to show our gratitude to God for our many blessings. In other words, a time of enjoying and sharing our blessings – coming close to God by being close to each other in a sensitive and caring way.
6: The dressing up adds the idea that at the darkest of times when we think there is no real reason for hope, deliverance comes in unlikely ways from improbable sources, reminding us that “God’s deliverance comes in the twinkling of an eye”. Or, as my daughter Shira put it when naming their son “Afik” a few weeks ago, God’s deliverance is like the “afikei mayim” – the water channels in the desert that look dry and desolate beyond hope one moment and fill up instantly as if by magic when the rains come. Nature suddenly turns upside down and the normal order of things is changed beyond recognition.
7: So I will be dressing up today, sharing a Purim seudah of song and delicious food with good friends later, and celebrating with family now, with a real belief that by focusing on each other, looking after each other’s needs before we settle down to enjoy the blessings God has given us, we are doing a great deal to help those in pain and suffering on all sides and for all reasons, by helping to usher in a world where enemies become friends and nobody is left desolate, and where the bounds of practical possibility are overturned into a magical world of Divine deliverance.
8: Building bridges across divisions of all kinds is the real message of Purim – and it has never been more urgently needed than it is today. Purim Sameyach to us all, and b’soros tovos lonu ul’chol Yisroel u’lchol ha’olam.
Why aren’t poppies more popular?
1. Sensitivity is the key Jewish value. This week’s Torah reading finds Abraham – who discovered Judaism – exploring with God how to maximise the opportunities for even the most wicked and greedy of all cultures, the connurbation of Sodom and Gemorrah, to escape total destruction. And it finds him building a religious philosophy based on the concept of welcoming guests and visitors from all corners of the cultural globe, and ministering to the needs of each with a unique sensitivity.
2. So presumably the orthodox Jewish community will be alert for ways of feeling and showing sensitivity to others. Sensitivity to the feelings of those who fought, or whose families fought, to preserve a malchus shel chesed – a free and democratic society – where every religion and culture could receive respect and could cherish its own culture and values alongside those of its host society? Sensitivity to the grief of those who every year mourn those who lost their lives in the battle for this country’s freedom. And sensitivity to the desire of a free nation to mark its feelings of the senselessness and wickedness of the lust and ambition that soaked the fields of Europe twice in the blood of those whose lives should have been dedicated to something better; the blood-soaked fields of the World War One trenches, whose blood-red poppies were gathered as the guns fell silent in spontaneous tribute to those who fell.
3. The ranks of the orthodox community should be ablaze with poppies between now and Remembrance Day. It is a rare opportunity to share a cultural and non-religious symbol with all those who live around us, men and women of all religions or of no religion. There are still a few days left to buy our poppies and show Abraham’s sensitivity to those around us – let’s get buying.
The Sceptic Blog 