GRASS VALLEY, CA (MPG) - The holiday of Purim gives us an annual opportunity to practice transcending fear through comedy.

We will celebrate in costume with food and drink at the Nevada County Jewish Community Center on Friday March 18 at 7:30pm at 506 Walsh Street in Grass Valley with a retelling of the story of Esther and the near destruction of our people in Persia 2,500 years ago. In brief, a drunken king allows a power-hungry Prime Minister to condemn the Jewish people to death over a slight to his ego.  Only the intervention of Esther, who has to risk her life by showing up to speak with the king without being summoned first, saves the Jews from destruction.

There’s nothing new under the sun, the Bible teaches us; certainly, those filled with hate in their heart for anyone who won’t bow to their will is an old and terrible tale, even as it arises in our day and causes heartache and havoc for those who wish to be free. One of the secrets to Jewish survival despite facing more than our fair share of hatred is laughing in the face of danger; how perfect that a Jew who knows how to make people laugh is now the leader of a nation fighting for its freedom against a cold-hearted dictator.  May Zelensky live long and prosper; may the name of the evil one be erased. 

So often, rulers confuse their person with their position and think respect is due them due to their office, rather than their behavior. Haman, the evil minister in the scroll of Esther, wants everyone to bow down to him. Mordechai, Esther’s uncle, bows only to the Creator of the World, and so incurs his wrath. As a result, Haman decides that all of Mordechai’s people should die, and draws lots (Purim) from among the days of the year to randomly decide on what date the destruction should fall. When someone believes there is no power greater than themselves, they are usually in for a rude awakening. Let us pray now is no different.

Another awful man with a name starting with H came along and eighty years ago talked about how the Jews will stop laughing at his prophesy of their destruction. Perhaps in response to this, the story has been told that a Jew was sitting in the front row of one of his speeches in which he railed on and on about destroying the Jews, and the Jew kept laughing until he stopped his speech and said, what are you laughing for? The Jew replied, a long time ago, another fellow said the same thing, and now we have a holiday where we make fun of him and eat pastries in the form of his hat. I’m just wondering how we’re going to celebrate your downfall. Those who believe their power is invincible will be proven wrong, and laughter helps bolster the spirit of resistance.

Another element of the current situation that needs highlighting is the atrocious and outrageous abuse of history by Putin in calling the invasion a “denazification” campaign. The only country in Europe with a Jewish president who was democratically elected cannot possibly be in need of that. He must believe he can win over Russians with the memory of the war against Nazi Germany, but he should also be called to account for denial of genocide and trivialization. 

Our country is not immune to those who would appropriate the term Nazi and Holocaust to refer to anyone and everything they don’t like, and this ought to stop. We refer to the Shoah (Hebrew for destruction), instead of Holocaust because it is a unique event with a special history of anti-Semitism leading up to it, even as we acknowledge that homosexuals, trade-unionists, communists and others were targeted by the Nazis. Holocaust refers to a burnt offering anyway, and therefore is inaccurate applied to the various methods of extermination and certainly not to be used in reference to other genocides. And to casually use the term Nazi is to diminish the importance of recognizing who they were and what they aimed to do.

So, when a young person in our congregation came across a sign recently that read: “Stop the VacciNazis” he was appalled and frightened. How is it that we have gone from celebrating vaccines that have put an end to polio and smallpox, and checked many other diseases that caused death and terrible illness, to equating those who would prevent death with those who would eradicate an entire people? We can discuss masks and mandates without playing the Nazi card, as we should regarding many other realms in which the term is bandied about.

In the meantime, we remind ourselves that history, over and over again, teaches us that those who let power go to their heads will most likely lose them, leaving only their hats behind for us to turn into treats to eat. 

Purim Celebration 

Come in costume!

Food and drink will be served

Friday, March 18 at 7:30pm

506 Walsh Street, Grass Valley

For more information, call us at (530) 477-9022