Haverim:
On a recent day that got up into the 40’s someone in the family wondered out loud if spring has arrived. This reminded us of an old joke in the Midwest that there are several winters: first winter, second winter, etc. with False Spring mixed in. The cold is far from over as we saw single-digit temperatures a day or so after the warmup.
The springtime always reminds me of how close the Jewish holidays are connected to the seasons. Passover is a springtime festival that celebrates the early harvest cycle of the land of Israel. Even here in North America, Passover usually means that I can look out in our back yard and see some early blooms of daffodils emerging after the long, cold winter.
It seems that the season is also connected to the early spring holiday of Purim which arrives on month before Passover. Maybe there is a connection here too that this first holiday of spring is a joyous and even comic-holiday where we dress in costumes and behave in raucous, even mocking ways about ourselves and the way we dress and behave.
We don’t take ourselves too seriously on this night of Purim. Just like the early signs of spring that taunt us and then disappear under snow and freezing temps again, the holiday of Purim is a joke almost. There is a story of how the Jewish people are saved by Queen Ester, and we cheer at the downfall of Haman and rejoice that the people are saved in the end. Did it really happen? No one knows if the story is connected to any actual event. Deep inside we know it is just a story, almost like a fairy tale.
Nevertheless, it’s place on the calendar gives us a spark of hope that lasting, real deliverance is coming soon. Passover marks the time when our people were delivered from slavery in Egypt and when we began our story as a free people.
This year we have hope that Purim will give us a much-needed spark of joy in our congregation. We hope that we will finally be able to have services in person in our own synagogue again for the first time in over 2years. It seems that the pandemic is becoming more under control with the vaccination program and the safety measures that have been in place for a while. We will require people in attendance to wear masks, and other social-distancing measures as we think necessary.
We will continue to monitor the situation, but our plan now is to be at our synagogue to celebrate Purim and observe Shabbat on Friday, March 18th at 7:00 PM.
L’Shalom – In Peace – let us pray for peace in Ukraine and all the world
Rabbi Shlomo Wing