The Purim Paradox

Next week we will celebrate Purim on Saturday night and Sunday. We set the stage for Purim in the time that has passed since the coming of the new month of Adar. Our tradition tells us that when the month of Adar arrives we are to increase the joy that we feel. This is an anticipatory kind of happiness- looking forward to celebrating should put us in a good mood, make our hearts more receptive to feeling joy, and inspire us to embrace the holiday. All this talk of joy makes me wonder what our sages had in mind- can we really be joyous just because a holiday comes? Can we choose to be “happy” with just the turn of the calendar?

I think most of us feel that happiness is not something that we can just turn on or off at will. There are times that we feel so sad that we can’t imagine ever smiling again. There are also times that we feel so happy that we forget that we ever felt sad! Most of our lives are spent somewhere in between those two extremes, living a mixture of happy and sad. The kind of good news/bad news the average day brings! So what did our Sages have in mind? Did they really think we could be “happy” at the drop of a hat? For some of us it might seem a paradox that we are being command to be happy. Both joy and sadness are feelings that creep into our hearts unexpectedly- we hardly ever think of them as the result of a conscience decision. I think all of us would choose to be happy if only it were that simple!

So what is all this talk of well-intentioned happiness over the month of Adar and the anticipation of Purim? Perhaps it’s the Jewish take on the old “is the glass half empty or half full” thing. When you really think about Purim seriously could become sad and, in fact, discouraged. Purim was the first act in a play that has run the entirety of Jewish existence. Purim: Haman hated us because we were different. He called us “outsiders.” He said we should not be included in society because of our beliefs. His words were repeated over and over by generations of those who hated us for no other reason than our very existence. For that we have suffered over and over. Good reason to be sad. Good reason to be saddened by a pain that has plagued our people in every time and place.

But to that temptation our Sages said “No!” It is not sadness that we feel but joy! The glass is “half full.” Every would-be Haman has failed. We are here to tell the story and mock (and erase) his memory. We choose to celebrate the continuity of Jewish life and to make light of every threat that we have faced. God said this to Abraham: Those who bless you shall be blessed, those who curse you shall be cursed.” Our Sages “command” us to find the joy in Purim because it is a day to celebrate rather than mourn.

Some of us choose to find the joys of being Jewish but some of us act like it is a curse. Purim is a good time to choose the joy of being Jewish. Despite all that we have faced we are the ones who are still around- telling and retelling the story each year and being happy just to be able to do it.