Commentary

Cover Story

Remembering
Who You Are

How self-discovery leads
to recemption.

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M - XI M

The same point is found in a pas-
! sage in the Megillah when Esther
comes to Ahaseuerus to inform him
hat is the main theme of
that two of his courtiers are plotting to
Megillat Esther and
assassinate him. When she approach-
Purim?
: es the king, she is careful to report the
I would suggest it is the power of
plot in the name of Mordechai, who
self-discovery to redeem. This theme
was the first to discover it.
of understanding and remembering
The text reads: "Esther said to the
who we are helps explain a number
king in the name of her
of unusual rituals and texts of
father Mordechai" (Esther
Purim.
2:22). The Talmud
Two foremost customs are
(Megillah 15a) says that
masquerading and drinking
this teaches that whoever
alcohol. The rabbis tell us
reports a saying in the
(Talmud Eruvin 65a) nichna
name of the person who
yayin ytsa sod, when wine
originally said it brings the
enters the body, secrets slip
world toward redemption.
out. Our true self comes
And indeed, the people
through. We discover who
were ultimately redeemed.
Ra bbi
we truly are.
Although in this one spe-
Lee Bu ckman
The same is true for mas-
cific example the people
querading. When we wear
were redeemed; most of us
a costume, we take off the
would say that our experience is just
"persona" that we hide behind all year,
the opposite. How many times have
and our true selves come through. We
we quoted a source and yet the
realize that all year we wear masks
world was not redeemed!
and hide behind them. On Purim, we
Mordechai Gafni, a charismatic
discover who we really are.
young rabbi in Jerusalem, suggests
This process of discovery represents
that, in fact, the Talmud's statement
a pivotal stage in the Purim story, as
reflects a deep psychological truism.
told in the Megillah. If it weren't for
He explains that when we give prop-
Mordechai remembering who he was
1 er attribution we distinguish between
(a descendant of those commanded
what is truly ours and what is not. We
to destroy Amalek and his descen-
distinguish between the real "me" and
dants, i.e. Haman), and if it weren't
the one that we project onto the
for Esther remembering that she was a
world around us.
Jew first and a Persian second, the
When we allow our true "I" to
Jews of Persia probably would not
come through, we transform ourselves
have won the battle against its
and help change others.
enemy. Redemption comes when we
That is what happened with Esther.
remember who we are as Jews and
She, like Mordechai, remembered
how we are supposed to act.
who she was. They discovered their
true selves; and that process of discov-
Rabbi Lee Buckman is the
ery is, in and of itself, an act of
headmaster of the Jewish Academy
redemption. ❑
of Metropolitan Detroit.

0

Rabbi Lee Buckman
Special to The AppleTree

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