On Friday, a parade of smiling children from our Sarfan Early Childhood Center marched through the campus spreading Purim joy. Being surrounded by a sea of energetic and costumed children, you can't help but have a smile on your face and feel appreciation for our dedicated team that works tirelessly to nurture our children's curiosities and grow their confidence.  

On Sunday, we will continued the celebration with our annual Purim Carnival. The festivities will include inflatables, amusements, games and prizes.

Purim is the happiest day on the Jewish calendar. On this day we read the Purim story, have a festive meal, give gifts to each other and help those in need. We are taught that on Purim we should celebrate with great festivity and happiness.

However, this year Purim feels different. With the ongoing fighting of our brave brothers and sisters in Israel and the suffering of too many, how can we be silly and happy on the holiday?

The story of Purim is the story of v'nahafoch hu - of a world turned upside down - and hester panim (God's hidden face). Purim provokes us to think about how we respond to the chaos and randomness in a world that feels like it lacks divine order.  

My colleague Rabbi Marc Baker has shared that, “the Purim story is a satire of how absurd, random, and upside down the world can be, and how out of control that can make us feel. Satire, silliness, humor, and joy are forms of spiritual resistance against the absurdity of our world. As one of my earliest spiritual teachers used to say, “laughter is transcendent.” At the same time, as the heroic Esther reminds us, we must never lose our agency and our ability to act. Sometimes, we can even change the course of history.” 

This message is incapsulated in the response of Mia Schem, a 21 year old Israeli-French woman who was abducted by Hamas from the Nova Music Festival on Oct 7, who defiantly proclaimed after her release "We will dance again." To Mia and many of the Nova Music Festival survivors, nothing can stop their spirit - “I’m going to dance my whole life, and they can’t stop me.”

The message of Purim is that we do not have license to despair. The very celebration of this holiday can be seen as an act of resistance - every Purim-shpiel we put on, every costume we don, every dollar of tzedakah we give and every moment of happiness we share is an act of joy, pride, and resistance. 

Ultimately, Purim reminds us that seemingly small acts of joy and kindness can bring about dramatic change.  

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy Purim!  

Eric Maurer
Executive Director
emaurer@ujcvp.org