Be Happy It’s Adar

Be Happy It’s Adar
by Rabbi Daniel Allen
Discuss on Our Blog"There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples….Their laws are different from those of every other people's, and they do not observe the king's laws; therefore it is not befitting the king to tolerate them."Haman to the Persian King Achashveros.
"With the help of God and the people's resistance, the new Middle East will turn into a region without the United States and the Zionist regime, and the arrogant powers will have no place in this Middle East. Soon, the entire world will experience the sweet taste of a world without Zionists and thugs."
President of Iran Ahmadinejad February 11, 2011.
Our response, among others, then and now, is Be Happy It’s Adar. To the best of my knowledge we are the only people in the world who are commanded to be happy for a whole month as part of our celebration of victory. Adar II, which began Monday, brings us Purim, a primary example of Jewish History; they wanted to kill us, we won, let’s eat.
As I visited with our Reform movement in Israel last week from Carmiel to Tel Aviv Purim fever was heating up. Kids were buying costumes (Power Rangers remains one of the most popular). Plans were being made for both individual and congregational Purim Seudot, the festive meals for the afternoon after the reading of the megillah. And despite the nervousness over the generally unstable situation in their neighborhood, Israelis are happy.
Irina is a new Rabbi in Haifa who has started a Russian speaking congregation. She is bubbly, vivacious, enthusiastic and quite serious about building a kehillah for “my people.” Being a Reform Jew makes me whole” said Smadar, a sixth grade student at our school in Jerusalem who comes from a “secular” family.
Gedera is an Israeli town founded in 1884 now often considered the southern edge of the Israeli population along the coastal plane. Mira was ordained this past November by HUC in Israel. She is a one person whirling dervish forming a kehillah in Gedera.” Once my car is packed with prayer books, the Torah, and all my teaching materials, there is no room for even one passenger.” Each Friday Mira spends the day in Gedera teaching, helping folks understand Reform Judaism in an Israeli context, and holding services. In Gedera this year there will be a Reform Purim Shpiel for the first time.
In addition to hearing the megillah and drowning out the name of Haman with noise, we are also instructed to send gifts to each other. The mitzvah of giving mishloach manot is meant to ensure that everyone has enough food for the Purim feast and to increase love and friendship among Jews as a counter to Haman’s assertion that the Jewish people are characterized by strife and disunity. One is to send something to eat, something to drink, and some money for Tzedakah. Consider giving your Purim Tzedakah this year to ARZA to strengthen our Israeli movement. (www.arza.org)
Natan Sharansky is our modern Mordechai who challenged and beat the Hamans of the Soviet Union. In remarks to HUC students recently he said that what we are all doing in Israel is reassembling the jig saw puzzle of the Jewish people, we are bringing the Jews back together. We, as Reform Jews, are part of the puzzle. Despite the external neighborhood challenges and the internal puzzle building challenges, Israel is a place for all Jews including us. Be Happy It’s Adar.