Parashat Hashavua: Ki Tisa

אֶסְתֵּר מִן הַתּוֹרָה מִנַּיִן? ״וְאָנֹכִי הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר״
From where in the Torah can we find allusion to Megillat Esther?  From the phrase (Deut. 31:17) “I will hide my face from them.”

My K-Pop Demon Hunter costume was already purchased and hanging in my closet.  The faculty-led Purimspiel was already written and rehearsed. And then, on Saturday, came the news about the war.  I looked at my costume, feeling both longing and guilt – longing for the children to have the joy-filled Purim they deserved, especially at a time like this.  At the same time, I couldn’t help the question from popping into my head, “can we really make jokes and prance around in costumes at a time like this?”

But that was before my friends and family in Israel started sending me texts and pictures of their own Purim celebrations in the bomb shelters.  One friend’s four kids dressed up and acted out the story.   Another participated in a complete megillah reading with neighbors.

Apparently I had forgotten one of the most important teachings of Purim, the concept of הסתר פנים – a hidden face.  Like God in the story of Megillat Esther, just because celebrations of Purim in Israel this year were hidden does not mean that they were absent.  You just had to look more carefully for them.  

There are so many other ways that God’s face can seem hidden in our complicated and difficult world.  But Purim – and the celebrations of our loved ones in Israel this year – came to remind us that just because God is hidden, that does not mean that God is absent.  It is on us to search for what is hidden, to find and raise the sparks, especially in such a time as this.

Rabbi Anne Ebersman