Purim
by Shimi Cohen
Every new year comes this painful moment.
After weeks of preparation, shopping and planning, the Purim holiday is coming to an end, leaving me with a bitter taste in my mouth, a bit sad, of something that was and will not be back in just a year.
The disappointment is twofold, both for the wonderful day that has already passed and for all the much investment we have made on the way to it. Did it all go down in the sunset without leaving an impression?
Suddenly I realized that even if Purim's day cannot be traced back in time, the joy and insight of Purim is still possible. Not only is it possible, but it's also very practical and meaningful.
Rejoicing on Purim itself is not such a difficult job. It seems that being sad on Purim itself is more difficult. But to take away Purim's special insights, the ones that bring us the same joy, that's the real deal!
What practical way should the meaning and joy of Purim be preserved?
When you see someone disguised as a Purim, immediately and easily recognize that it is not really him, that there is someone else here completely hiding behind the mask. Now that the costumes are already behind us, the challenge is to recognize costumes even if they aren't really visible! For example, if you see someone doing the wrong thing, there are two options before us. The first and easiest thing is to think that that person is really wrong, and that's it.
The second, more significant option is to think it might be a costume. Maybe the man acted unintentionally, or in good faith, maybe we misidentified and thought it was a negative act, without realizing the exact situation at the time?
Do we think this time is not a very successful costume that managed to knock us down too?
The same goes for things that happen to us in life. We often have to deal with failures and falls, with losses and disappointments. Here, too, is our choice, do we just see bad, and be disappointed again and again? Or we choose the costume option. Knowing that negative things sometimes cover things that are often good.
In other words, anything that happens to us, which seems to be harmful and unhelpful, in our ability to decide whether it is real, or is it only a temporary costume, will eventually become an important and significant thing in our lives.
Taking that to our attention, we can really rejoice all year long. Not just Purim!
Mea Shearim, Jerusalem 2020 - Purim
