By the Grace of G-d Dear Friend, One of the earliest conscious memories I have from my childhood, is of Purim. It’s a scary one. Perhaps that is why I still have the memory. My parents hosted a Purim celebration for adults that started in the evening. I was in bed, but of course there was no way a curious kid would go to sleep when guests are arriving and there is action going on in the dining room. A gorilla walked down the hall, passing my bedroom and throwing me into a hysteria. Gorillas seem quite scary, especially if they are not in the zoo but have invaded the safe environment of your home. It didn’t help much that my parents invited the ‘gorilla’ into my bedroom and had him take off his ‘head’ so that I could see the nice human being underneath. The vision of that gorilla still terrified me. It obviously made a deep impression on me as it is one of the earliest childhood memories I have. It certainly allowed me to relate to the hysterical crying of some of our kids upon meeting clowns and other forms of masqueraders in various settings. Purim is the day of Jewish masquerading. It is a custom to ‘dress-up’ on Purim. Queen Esther is one of the favorites for girls, as Mordechai is for boys. Firemen, policemen, elderly persons, cooks, superheroes, and all kinds of other creative get ups fill the streets of Jewish communities around the world on Purim. Why? Years ago, I took the ‘world-famous studio tour’ at Universal Studios in Hollywood. I remember walking away feeling confused. On the one hand I was wowed by how creative the movie producers were. They didn’t need to go to a suburban neighborhood to film a show about housewives, they simply created a facade of suburbia. They even created a crashed airplane for one of their scenes. Sets could be created for almost any scene Hollywood was interested in creating. Artistic, resourceful, ingenious and a host of other words could all be used about these backdrop producers. In one word, it is ‘amazing’ to see what they have developed. On the other hand, I was disillusioned and disappointed to see how fake the entertainment industry was. It was all merely a facade. People acting. Production sets that were built and customized to portray a certain image. There was nothing real about it. Millions upon millions of people spend millions upon millions of dollars to watch something that is not real. Not to mention the untold number of hours spent watching these productions. Is society so bored that we can’t figure out real and meaningful things to spend our time and money on? Ultimately, in the long term, I walked away enlightened. I had been shown in a tangible way that things are not always the way they look. Granted, it looks so authentic. Which is why it takes so many millions to produce. If it didn’t look real, it wouldn’t sell. But it’s not real. It a ‘dress-up’. A masquerade. Should one get heartbroken over a tragic divorce in a movie? Should a gun-toting terrorist engender fear while one is merely watching a film? Not more than a kid should get terrified of a man dressed up as a gorilla. Yet, there is no question that people do grip their chairs during thrillers and gasp during horrors. The illusion is strong enough to almost forget that it is not real. It takes an effort to distinguish the real from the illusion. Just like a man dressed as a gorilla is scary. If you don’t realize that it is not real. Purim is coming. On this Wednesday night and Thursday. In the Megilla that is read on the eve of Purim and then again on Purim day, the ancient story is retold. How the Persian King Achashverosh killed his queen Vashti in a drunken rage. Esther was chosen as the new queen and did not disclose her Jewishness. Mordechai through his government position learned of a plot to kill the king. Through Esther, Mordechai relayed the message to the king. This life-saving favor was recorded in the royal chronicles. Haman wanted to kill the Jews. Esther invited the king to a private banquet with chief minister Haman. Esther revealed her Jewish identity to her husband the king. Haman’s plot of annihilating all the Jews would include Esther as well. Achashverosh had a royal change of mind. Haman was deposed and killed. The Jews were allowed to bear arms and successfully repelled those who wanted to kill them. From disaster and sadness, we went to gladness and joy! Sounds amazing and miraculous when you read it in one paragraph. Everything came together spectacularly. Actually the full story spanned a decade. It didn’t seem all that miraculous as it was unfolding. It’s not like the dramatic splitting of the sea or the raining down of Manna from heaven. The scenarios seemed quite ordinary and coincidental. The hand of G-d was not evident. Actually, the name of G-d is not mentioned during the entire story of the Megilla. It is precisely that ‘invisible’ hand of G-d that wrought the Purim miracle, that we celebrate on Purim. Purim reminds us that things are not the way they seem. What looks like nature bereft of G-d’s direct and detailed input, is actually the well concealed hand of G-d. If movie directors can make things look realistic even when they are merely facades, I don’t need to explain to my mature audience of readers, that G-d can make ‘nature’ look self-navigating. On Purim we masquerade. We celebrate the invisible hand of G-d in the day to day natural progression of life. Even though we don’t witness many ‘open-miracles’ we do get to see many ‘small-miracles’. When we look back, we can often see the guiding hand of G-d. The Rebbe would sometimes advise people who were complaining about their lousy lot in life, to look back. See what you were complaining about and praying for five or ten years ago. Have you really not had any blessings in your life? Invariably, when one looks back, they see patterns. An invisible coordinating force seems to be at work. G-d masquerades. On Purim we celebrate the ability to see beyond the masks. For a young Yosef Chaim Kantor the challenge was to assuage his fears of that masked gorilla. My mother and father tried their best to sooth my fears by showing me the kind person who was in the mask. (I still remember who he was as well. A kind and benevolent man) To a now grown Yosef Chaim, the challenge is still the same. To see the benevolent Hand of G-d in everything that takes place to me and around me. I pray and plead to G-d to be blessed with the awareness and ability to discern G-d’s presence in every aspect of my life. May you too be likewise blessed! What we can do to help reveal G-d’s presence is study Torah and do Mitzvahs. There is nothing as powerfully revelatory of G-d than saying ‘no’ to something G-d has instructed us to refrain from, and saying ‘yes’ to something G-d has requested us to do. Ultimately, humanity in its totality will be exposed to this reality with Mashiach’s arrival, AMEN! Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Yosef Kantor
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