While being prudent and ensuring safety and security for our people and institutions is paramount, the hype and feeding of the frenzy is an upside down way of expressing our Jewishness.
Let’s take a page out of Mordechai’s book. When Haman – may his name be erased – was feeding the frenzy with the anti-semites of the time, Mordechai gathered 22,000 children in the public square and studied Torah with them. Something like this, only BIGGER https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cP-JuTu0xic.
Ok. Without the big screen and music. But pumped with Jewish Pride.
This Shabbos we take out two Torah’s. In the second we’ll remember the mitzvah of remembering Amalek, Haman’s great grandfather.
Amalek lurks amongst us. He’s the anti-semite around us but also in us. Amalek is the voice of fear and coldness. His words say, “Jews should be afraid, they should hide their Jewish identity. We live in a non Jewish world and we need to blend in as much as possible”.
The Torah tells us to erase the memory of Amalek. That means we have to use our stiff neckedness to tell ourselves first, and then the world around us that we are PROUD Jews, and have Hashem on our side.
So how will you celebrate your Purim?
Join us to show your Jewish pride this Purim:
https://injewishdiscovery.org/purimijdc/
Happy Purim and Good Shabbos!
Rabbi Mendel Schusterman
Thanks to my brother, Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman, Chabad Intown, Atlanta, for sharing the above thought.
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