OTHER VIEWS

ni ofireel
°rustC NOOMfidd

WEINREB

Assisted Living

grape juice. Possession of alcohol at an
NCSY event is grounds for immediate
expulsion.
Recently, NCSY has led the drive for
containment of the problems of alcohol
and substance abuse in our community
and is also circulating a brochure pre-
pared by Rabbi Jack Abramowitz,
director of national programs, titled
"Ad D'Io Yadd' ("Until You Don't
Know"), addressing the issue of drink-
ing on Purim. What is most com-
mendable about Rabbi Abramowitz's
pamphlet is the list of alternative
means of celebrating Purim he pro-
vides. (Ask your OU shul for a copy,
or download it: www.ncsy.org .)
My own personal concern for this
issue traces back to experiences I wit-
nessed myself in my former communi-
ty, Baltimore, where the excessive con-
sumption of alcohol on Purim resulted
in a fatality in one case and in serious
illness in others.
Recently, my concern was again trig-
gered by an incident at an NCSY
Shabbaton at which, despite stringent
controls and warnings, a teenager was

QTeie&t- ct4,6 &,wwe
.

A a eder

Orchard Lake Rd. South of Lone Pine Rd.

West Bloomfield, Michigan

248.683.1010

from page 31

able to smuggle in alcohol and drank
enough to require emergency treat-
ment at a hospital.
Today's concerns are nothing new
One of my wife's ancestors, the 19th
century Chassidic sage Rabbi
Yechezkel of Kuzamir, was also trou-
bled about improper conduct on
Purim. He would note that the com-
mon blessings we give each other at
this season of the year are "a freiliche
(joyous) Purim and a kosher Pesach."
He pointed out that of course our
Purim will be joyous, and of course our
Passover will be kosher given the
scrupulous ways in which we observe
our customs.
On Passover, we tend to be so strict
that we lose sight of the need for joy,
and on Purim we tend to be so frivo-
lous that we ignore the need to act in
a kosher and proper fashion.
I pray — and I pledge that the
Orthodox Union will pursue this goal
in every way possible — that this
Purim is not only joyous but also
kosher, in that the spirit of the day is
kept spiritually and not spirit-fully. ❑

936300

HAMMERMAN from page 31

gr

3/24
2005

34

33084 Northwestern Highway • West Bloomfield, MI 48322

{next to the new Honey Tree}

248-737-3700

932180

of burning an effigy of Haman on
Purim, suspecting that they were
doing it as a parody of Jesus' death.
In the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo
also depicts Haman's death in
Christological terms.
And there are strong parallels
between how both the Passion Play
and on a much smaller scale the Purim
story have incited mob violence and
hatred toward the other.
A year ago, many Jews feared that
Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ
would unleash a torrent of anti-
Semitism. What ensued was a flood of
free publicity, but very little else.
As I left the theater after seeing the
film, bristling at the stereotypes perpet-
uated by Gibson, I looked around at
the tear-filled eyes of those sitting
around me and realized that they had
been watching a completely different
movie.
I can imagine that the inverse would
be true if Steven Spielberg were to
tackle the Purim story. Non-Jews
would sneer at the Jews' gleeful
butchering of their Persian hosts,
while I would be cheering the last-sec-
ond salvation of a buzzer-beating God,
reassured by the "happily-ever-after"
ending too-often denied Jews in the
real world.
Hitler reportedly banned the cele-

bration of Purim in Poland in 1941
because he understood the power of
this story. He sensed that the hanging
of Haman could galvanize the faith of
Jews in the same way that the crucifix-
ion ignites the passion of Christians.
It is telling that when Christians
hear their story, they cry in silence.
When Jews hear the megillah, we
laugh and make lots of noise.
We might surmise that if, as Carol
Burnett said, "Comedy is tragedy plus
time," then "Purim is the passion plus
a good punch line." Come to think of
it, a risen Messiah is a pretty good
punch line, too.
In any faith, God always gets the
last laugh.
According to the book of Esther,
"These days of Purim will never cease
among the Jews." From this, the
midrash deduces that when the
Messiah comes, only Purim will con-
tinue to be celebrated.
Perhaps this year on Purim, we'll
become more conscious of the tears
being shed around us, while at the
same time understanding that the
laughter ultimately will prevail, for all
peoples, on that sunny spring day
when hatred dissolves into love and
Haman and Mordechai become one.
That will be a very Good Friday
indeed. ❑

