Jewish law says we are to begin learning about upcoming holidays 30 days before their arrival. Brothers and sisters, Purim is almost here. In the days of Mordechai and Esther, the terrible decree of Haman against the Jews of Shushan fell upon us because we stopped yearning to return to Israel and rebuild our Holy Temple. Rather we were content to rub elbows with the goyim and enjoy our positions of aristocracy and wealth, epitomized by our flocking to the party of Achashverus, assured that we would be imbibing only glatt kosher wine.
Brothers and sisters, WAKE UP! The story of the Megillah is being replayed today. We are the Jews of Shushan who want the nations of the world to love us, while the Haman of Iran is building his deadly arsenal of bombs and missiles to remind us that we are Jews! Brothers and sisters, WAKE UP! The United Nations isn’t going to help us. The nations of Europe won’t help us. The United States won’t come to our aid. Our political leaders don’t have the guts to NUKE IRAN NOW! Only the G-d of Israel can save us, just like in the days of Purim of old. That’s the message of Purim for today. And now is the time to cry out. Not when the missiles of Haman are already on their way!
Yes, we have to use our air force. Yes, we have to use our bombs. But we have learned time and again in Gaza that our bombers and bombs can’t do the job if we lack faith in the holy righteousness of our cause. So what must we do? We have to paint on our bombs the message, “In G-d We Trust,” just as David declared before he went out to battle to smite the wicked Goliath, “That all the earth may know that there is a G-d in Israel!” We must fight our enemies with all of the military power and weapons we have, but we must do so with the recognition that our justification and salvation is from G-d.
What was true then is true today. The Almighty hasn’t changed. The Torah hasn’t changed. We are to be a holy people, living according to our holy Torah, and living in our own Holy Land. Like it or not, that’s the way it has to be.
G-d does not want us to be good American Jews who keep Shabbat. G-d does not want us to be Londoners who keep kosher. Nor does G-d want us to be Israelis who try to imitate the ways of the West.
A Jew is to be holy. He is to live a distinctly holy life and be a part of a holy nation, and that holy nation is supposed to live in the Holy Land. It is as simple as that. This is our national destiny – to be a holy people in the Holy Land. Whether we like it or not, the Almighty will bring this to pass. “The eternal One of Israel will not lie.” As our Sages taught, either we return on our own, by turning back to our true and complete Torah and Holy Land, or else the Hamans of the world will persuade us the hard way, Heaven forbid.
Just as the tables were turned suddenly upside down for the Jews in Shushan, so it can happen today in Paris, and London, and yes, even New York. Let alone Ukraine and Russia. And yes, it can happen too in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, G-d forbid, if we don’t WAKE UP and return to being real, holy, true Torah Jews. This is the message of Purim. It is time to stop the masquerade of dressing up in the costumes of the good American Jew, and the loyal French Jew, and the cultured English Jew, and the Westernized Israeli Jew, and to start being 100% holy Torah Jews in Hashem’s Chosen Land. Happy Purim!
Tzvi Fishman was awarded the Israel Ministry of Education Prize for Jewish Culture and Creativity. Before making Aliyah to Israel in 1984, he was a successful Hollywood screenwriter. He has co-authored 4 books with Rabbi David Samson, based on the teachings of Rabbis A. Y. Kook and T. Y. Kook. His other books include: "The Kuzari For Young Readers" and "Tuvia in the Promised Land". His books are available on Amazon. Recently, he directed the movie, "Stories of Rebbe Nachman."
