By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend,
The taste of Purim is still fresh. The exuberance and joy are still palpable.
The togetherness at the Purim celebrations all throughout Thailand is uplifting and exhilarating.
I don’t want to get down from the ‘high’.
And I don’t have to.
The next joyous holiday is upon us in less than thirty days.
The smell of Pesach is already wafting through the air. The aromas of the cleansing agents that are part of cleaning the home from Chametz are triggering childhood memories of cleaning for Pesach.
The Shmura Matzah, kosher wine, matza-ball mix, and other Pesach food items have been shipped and in ten days or so should be ready for distribution by JCafe Kosher Shoppe.
The real spirited high of Purim is the unity and ‘beyachad’ (togetherness) which catapulted me to exhilaration.
Sometimes we Jews are skeptical about our cohesion and commonality. It’s fashionable to ‘kvetch’ about our intolerance and highlight the differences between us.
But I am supremely optimistic about belonging to the most incredibly united nation in the world. When ‘push comes to shove’ we are united. in a way that is insane and defines rational explanation.
A phrase from more than a decade ago jumps into my mind.
‘Lihyot Yehudi, Zeh Guarantee’
להיות יהודי זה גאראנטי
It’s a mix of Hebrew and English and only rhymes if you use the original respective languages.
In English this means ‘being a Jew is a guarantee’.
The author of that slogan is a Jew by the name of Yosef. Here is the story behind that slogan.
More than a decade ago, I received a call from the Shliach in Cambodia….who had received a call from the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok that was overseeing matters relating to Israeli’s in Cambodia.
The call to R’ Butman was about a man was in hospital in a small village in Cambodia called ‘Ko Kong’. Rabbi Butman traveled five hours by taxi from Phnom Penh, a harrowing journey, to get there. He discovered a seventy-year-old Israeli Jew who looked like he was close to dying. He literally looked like a sack of bones. The ‘hospital’ was not more than a rural clinic. It was decided that rather than bringing him to Phnom Penh, which was already very far, it was worth traveling an extra hour to reach Bangkok where the hospitals are better and there is nonstop flight to Israel. We had a car take him to the border of Thailand and organized an ambulance from one of the Thai hospitals to pick him up from the border.
I remember receiving him at the ICU in one of the hospitals in Bangkok and am thankful that you cannot smell what I smelled when the doors of the ambulance opened. It was unforgettably putrid. He had obviously been neglected for quite some time. After several weeks in hospital Yosef healed thank G-d.
During his time in hospital, Yosef, who was penniless, and being fed and cared for by us his fellow Jews, came up with the slogan
‘Lihyot Yehudi zeh guarantee’.
What he was saying in a simple slogan contains the deepest truth.
Notwithstanding his physical and spiritual bankruptcy and even his stated future plans which did not at all fit with the Torah, he had been saved. Just because he was a Yehudi he had had been cared for by other fellow Jews. Simply because he has a neshama and therefore he and we, all of us who took care of him, are one.
(And because of that Ahavat Yisrael the Shliach in Cambodia came armed with tefillin and a shofar as it was the month of Elul. Yosef in his delirious state recounted that the shofar blast was so strong it shook the very building….
When the Shliach wrapped tefillin with him it became clear that he knew some basic prayers. The rabbi said the words ‘Shma Yisrael’ and Yosef continued by saying ‘Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad’. When the Shliach prompted Yosef to say the next paragraph of the Shema ‘Ve’ahavta, you shall love, which continues ‘et Hashem Elokecha’, Hashem your G-d, Yosef in his state of confusion continued, ‘lereacha kamocha…..’ i.e. he instinctively recited the verse ‘you shall love your fellow as yourself’. Quite providential as indeed this verse, Veahvta Lreacha Kamocha is G-d’s instruction for mutual responsibility between Jews).
I thought of this story, because during the past few days I have been busy with helping N., a Jew who fell unexpectedly ill in Phitsanulok. N. came to Thailand to do a mitzvah to visit an ailing friend. But then he too fell ill in the hotel and was taken to a hospital. Too ill to speak. His sister called me from the USA quite frantic. All she knew was that her brother was in a hospital in Thailand and too ill to speak. After a few hours she found out that he was in Phitsanulok. My secretary called the hospitals and located him. I had a kindhearted community member fly down from Bangkok and pay a personal visit on my behalf. Please G-d N. will recover but, in the meantime, he will need some nursing care which we have arranged. N. is blessed that he has siblings who are stepping in to make sure he is cared for and that he has fellow Jewish brothers and sisters in Thailand that are able to facilitate and coordinate his care.
It brought back to mind that story with Yosef from some eleven or twelve years ago.
The statement still echoes in my ear.
‘Lihyot Yehudi, Zeh Garauntee’.
To be Jewish is to have a guarantee that you belong to a large family that cares for you. Unconditionally and wholeheartedly.
We are one united Jewish family.
The togetherness of Purim that was experienced at the communal celebrations, is please G-d about to get even better. Especially here in Thailand. I anticipate that the large joyous and united crowds of Purim will be outdone by the even larger communal Pesach Seders that we are looking forward to blessedly host.
Purim and Pesach are so much about celebrating TOGETHER. As we have all painfully learned during the restrictions of Covid. Purim under Covid lockdown was just not at all the same. And Pesach in solitude was sheer suffering for so many people.
This is not just incidental.
Purim and Pesach share the common theme of Jewish Unity because the GEULAH – liberation and redemption, of Purim and Pesach are centered around unity.
What is most striking about the Purim and Pesach stories, is the absolute hate that Pharaoh and Haman had for the Jewish people regardless of their tribal or familial affiliation. And regardless of their level of devoutness.
In the story of Pesach and then Purim, the Jewish People as a collective was in grave danger and Hashem made a miracle and they were saved.
It hasn’t changed. Our enemies, the virulent antisemites that sadly still exist in our world, have a desire to harm each one of us.
We need to fortify and strengthen ourselves to be stronger than our enemies. Not just militarily and with brute strength, which are limited, but with G-d’s protective blessings which are unlimited and invincible.
Let us take a deeper look at the ‘cosmic’ underpinnings to the near disaster of Purim. What enabled the diabolical Hamanic threat?
Our sages point to the verse that following verse (Esther 3:8):
Haman said to King Achashverosh, "There is one nation, scattered and dispersed among the nations
Haman wished to imply that the Jewish people were not united and thus vulnerable.
It was not just a statement of fact that Haman made to Achashverosh. There was a deeply existential phenomenon that Haman was exposing. And Haman understood this to be the weak point of the Jewish people at that time.
The fragmentation of the Jewish People divested them of the G-dly protection promised to them. It made them vulnerable.
The Jewish response at the time of the Purim story was, "Go gather all the Jews"(Esther 4:16).
Jewish unity would be the antidote to Haman's slander.
When we Jews are united, we are armed with a supernatural G-dly protection that makes us indestructible.
This is also the reason for the special and unique interpersonal mitzvahs of Purim. If you notice, the theme of the specific practices of Purim are unity amongst the people. Sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor.
Purim is a holiday one cannot celebrate alone.
My friends, we do not need a Pharaoh, a Haman or a Hitler may their names be obliterated to unite us.
We need to learn to celebrate together.
To agree to differ.
Yet at the same time recognize our shared origin and our common destiny.
And let us stop being so pessimistic about our ability to unite.
Don’t try to solve the global problems. Start locally. Do do one more deed of love and caring and sharing to a fellow than you are currently doing.
How about choosing a ‘fellow’ who you don’t feel such ‘fellowship’ towards.
Reach out in love to someone who thinks differently than you.
Engage with someone who you don’t naturally want to hang out with, and say a friendly word.
This is what I absolutely love about our Jewish life in Thailand.
The unity.
The brother/sister/hood.
Feasting together.
Singing together.
Rejoicing together.
Forgetting our arguments.
Highlighting our common aspirations and dreams.
If I daresay so, we need to export back to Israel the Ahavat Yisrael that Jews feel while traveling here and celebrating in unison.
It’s a holy undertaking. And it’s an achievable one.
As I am about to head off to the USA to raise funds for the deficit associated with the large communal Seders which we will be hosting throughout Thailand (Phuket and Ko Samui probably win the worldwide contest for the largest Seders in the world), I am imbued with this sense of mission.
The mission that you and I agree on, the mission of AM YISRAEL CHAI.
It’s simple. If we act like an AM – a nation, of YISRAEL – with the values of Judaism, we will be CHAI – alive and vibrant.
Let’s go for it.
Rabbi Yosef Kantor
PS To reemphasize. This is a practical take away message from the Megillah.
Jewish unity.
Additionally, this year we find ourselves in the year of Hakhel, gathering.
The Torah portion of this week as well Ki Tisa, teaches us of the half shekel in which we are reminded that without another Jewish person we are only half.
So, all the arrows are pointing in the same direction. Jewish unity. It is dependent on each on every one of us to do our part.
With blessings for the immediate redemption Amen.
