One of the most famously taught elements of the Book of Esther is that God’s name is never mentioned. While there was a wonderful miracle and the horrible decree was overturned, God is not written about in the story. And so we often ask, “where is God in the story?” Some may answer that God isn’t in the story. Or perhaps God is hiding. Or some may answer that God is certainly present, just not explicit. Maybe God is present through the people in the story. Through their strength, through their ability to come together as one people with a mission, through their connectedness.
We might also feel like God is invisible in our lives. Especially this past year, it’s easy to feel that perhaps God has been hiding. Purim feels particularly poignant in the context of this pandemic because Purim was the last in-person community gathering we held. It was right after Purim, one year ago on the Jewish calendar, that we enacted measures to protect our community. And there have been so, so many times in the last year that our (my!) faith has felt shaken and tested and occasionally broken.
Purim was the reminder that I needed. Purim, and our celebration last night specifically, was the reminder that God is present even when things are hard because we have the ability as a people to come together. When we read the Megillah, we start to see where God is in the story. And then we can see where God is in our life story. There are moments when we are able to transcend what is hard and what is painful. There are moments where we’re able to come together as a people with joy, with connection, and with purpose.
It’s in those moments, moments like last night where over 100 of you joined us on Zoom for a joyous evening of Megillah reading and Purim celebrations. I didn’t know it was what I needed. I didn’t know that inside of the playfulness, inside of the ritual, inside of the Zoom (!), in seeing your costumes and your smiles, I would find God. The power in our ability to come together as a people and as a community is stronger than what forces us to stay apart.
I imagine there will continue to be times that feel hard, and there may continue to be times where we feel that God is hiding. But I hold on to the fact, I am comforted by the fact, that even when God is not explicitly present, we have the ability to see bits of the Divine. And I pray that by next Purim, God is hiding a little bit less.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Purim Sameach, Rabbi Sarit
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