This week we begin the month of Adar. The month of Adar is a special month for the Jewish people because it’s the month that we celebrate the holiday of Purim. The dictum from our tradition is that when Adar begins, we are commanded to increase our joy to demonstrate how wonderful this month, and the celebration of this holiday, are for the Jewish people.
Purim is the holiday found in the short Book of Esther, which is one of the five Megilot found in the Jewish Bible, the TaNaKh. There are many peculiarities and intriguing issues in the Book of Esther that are worthy of discussion. For instance, the Book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention God. This actually made for a challenge when decisions were being made about what books were to be included, and which were not, in the Bible. There is also the issue of names. The specific name is of course Esther. The book is named for her… she is the central character and yet her name is not her real name. Esther’s name is actually Hadassah and for some reason it was changed to Esther. Was it to conceal her identity? Was it a mask she was wearing?
Above all other issues in the book, the one I find most intriguing is the flipping upside down of the entire world of the story. The Book of Esther is perfect in its ability to take everything that was assumed to be true and to completely flip it. Haman’s hatred of Mordecai was so severe that he sought to murder Mordecai and all Jews with him. Yet it will be Haman and his followers who will be killed on the very gallows that had been built for Mordecai. It is Mordecai who becomes the second in command when Haman is gone. It is Haman who is forced to lead Mordecai around on the king’s horse when he thought it was going to be him.
There is simply so much of the world being flipped in this story, there is not enough time to write all of it here. When I got to thinking about this aspect of the story, I began singing to myself Lin Manuel Miranda’s The Battle of Yorktown in which he portrayed the defeated British soldiers singing the English Ballad, The World Turned Upside Down. While the historical veracity of the account that the British soldiers sang this song while surrendering is not so strong, it’s a wonderful way of seeing that moment. In the eyes of the British, their cause was just and their strength was unequalled by any force in the world. The British could not imagine a world that did not contain British superiority and British domination. Here they were, a well-trained military both on land and at sea, and they were defeated by loosely assembled militias. In their eyes the world was not as it should be… it was upside down. Everything had been flipped and suddenly they were the losers when they had always been assumed to be the winners.
On Purim each year, we celebrate that it is possible. That it is possible for things to change. That it is possible for good to overcome evil. That it is possible to declare victory when all of the cards are stacked against us. That everything in our world is possible and that things can indeed be flipped entirely from the way that we assumed them to be. In life today, we often allow ourselves to become complacent as we assume, or rather we accept, that things are as they are and that they will never change. We accept defeat and we accept the negativity. This viewpoint is the antithesis of progress and of forward movement. We need to look and see that all around us is great opportunity and incredible possibilities. We need to see that we have the ability to change the world - and down can indeed become up. This is the spirit of every revolution and every fight that has ever been fought. This is the spirit that we need to engage in all that we do. We must have the courage to dream and to believe that things can and will be different. We can apply this on a micro or a macro level, and from that belief and worldview, we will in the end manage to see “the world turned upside down.” Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Hearshen
D'var Torah
Rabbi Hearshen's Video D'var Torahs can be viewed each Friday on: Our Facebook page and now on our website. The Parashat this week is Beshalach.
Shiva for Phyllis Maslia
Our condolences goe out to the Maslia & Greenblatt families on the loss of Phyllis Maslia on Tuesday. Shiva will be held tonight at 7:00 pm on Zoom here.
Passcode: Bureka1914 and Meeting ID: 959 6395 2553.
Erev Shabbat Services will remain at 4:45 pm until February 26.
Candlelighting time this week is 5:55 pm. Shabbat ends at 6:55 pm.
BIRTHDAYS Shabbat Stella Firestone
Sunday Nancy Galanti Stella DeLeon
Monday Judy Bernath Svetlana Akbasheva
Wednesday Laurence Richman
Thursday Victoria Killeen
ANNIVERSARIES Sunday Karl and Michelle Braun Michael and Rena Antebi
Tuesday Rael and Vicki Grosswald
Meldados
Shabbat Ila Galanti for Father-in-law Avraham Rabenu Galanti Jackie Benveniste for Husband Morris Benveniste Jacob Shabtai for friend Julian Jacobs Joel Rosenberg for Father George Rosenberg Lisa Galanti Rabinowitz for Grandfather Avraham Rabenu Galanti Rachel Galanti for Father-in-law Avraham Rabenu Galanti Sam Galanti for Father Avraham Rabenu Galanti
Sunday Janet Cadranel for Father Samuel Shafferman Louise Sinkoe for Brother Eli Bobo Louise Sinkoe for Brother Joe Bobo
Monday Ernie Dreyer for Husband Robert Dreyer Jeffrey Cohen for Uncle Ned B. Cohen Phyllis M. Cohen for Aunt Esther Mayson Karp
Tuesday Julia Roth for Sister Alice Barbakoff Marilyn Bernstein for Aunt Alice Barbakoff Rochelle Richman for Aunt Alice Barbakoff
Wednesday Jacob Shabtai for Father Nagi Shabtai Margot Alfie for Grandmother Lela Hafif Salomon Arar for Mother Sarina Arar
Thursday Albert Tarica for Father Israel Tarica Annie Cohen for Uncle Joseph Savdie Robert Habif for Grandfather Raymond Dozetos
Friday Albert Marx for Father Hugh Marx Iris Shemaria for Mother Zelda Smith Judy Chyatte for Uncle Jack Antebi Lucy Maslia for Father Sadok Menasche
Help OVS While You Shop!
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Community Events
The Breman Museum Atlanta Jewish History Talks: Atlanta's Old Jewish Neighborhood February 18 at 10:30 am Join Associate Professor of History at Georgia State University, Dr. Marni Davis, as she discusses her research on the old Jewish neighborhood of Atlanta.
The class will be moderated by ethnographer of the Atlanta Sephardic community, our very own Dan Maslia. Click here to register.
Click here for listings of other community events.
