Never by Chance

But what happens when there is very own abilities. miracle after miracle yet no one We are ignorant or indifferent “These days will be seems to see the explosion of G-d’s to G-d’s mighty hand in our lives. remembered and kept in each mighty hand in this world? When Propelling us forward, showering generation, in every family, land G-d’s voice is masked by nature us with blessing. It is up to us to and city. These days of will seeming to take its natural course? truly see and recognize the Source never be abandoned by the , Purim’s miracles were intentionally of life in our days. nor shall their memory die out hidden. happened to be among their children.” Then there are those moments chosen. She happened to be of darkness. We are bewildered. Every year Megilat Esther must Jewish. Achashverosh happened Where is G-d? I feel so abandoned. be read aloud in public. All adult to be taken by her. We had one How am I ever going to get out of Jewish men and women are of our own in the palace and this? Why is G-d hiding? obligated to hear every single wow, were we lucky! Mordechai word to fulfill the misvah. Why? happened to hear the plot to kill Our people thought the same Don’t the other the king. happened to when the holy Temple in Jerusalem have miracles far greater and erect the gallows upon which he was destroyed. We were sent into wondrous? And why is Purim was eventually hanged. There is exile. Dispersed as the smoke and uniquely celebrated specifically no luck or coincidence here. It’s all fire rose over our glorious Temple. through reading the ? meant to be, directed behind the Fear spread from one to another. Can it be that G-d has abandoned The message to every Jew scenes by G-d’s guiding hand. throughout the centuries even in The name of G-d is nowhere to us forever? the darkest times is: “Do not be be found explicitly in the Book Megilat Esther teaches us that afraid. Even if it feels as if I am so of Esther. It is only alluded to, even in the darkness of exile, even far away, hidden and concealed. I hidden, waiting to be found. G-d in the looming shadows, we must will never abandon you, My dear purposefully concealed His name never fear. G-d is watching over us. children.” to teach us that there are times that Perhaps His hand seems hidden. The miracles of Hanukah and great miracles are camouflaged, Perhaps the healing seems to be , the shelter of all waiting to be discovered. taking forever. Beneath the heavy speak openly about the hand of G-d We all go through times that clouds is the hand of G-d, tenderly in our lives. Divine intervention saved we believe that we are alone, on watching over us. the nation of Israel. We sing about our own. Sometimes they are the revealed miracles. There is no moments of great success. We A Joyous Purim to All! denying the obvious. How could one think it’s all about being at the not believe? A scroll is not necessary. right place in the right time, or our Isaac Farhi Purim & Yom Ha-ki-purim

Judaism. Generally, the various prohibitions in the Torah reflect the relationship of awe and reticence, One of the greatest of Jewish mystics, Rabbi while the positive obligations reflect the relationship Yitzchak Luria, points out that the Biblical term for of love and reaching out to G-d. the Day of Atonement, Yom Ha-ki-purim, can also be , with its prohibitions against eating, read as Yom KePurim, meaning "a day like Purim". drinking and other physical pleasures, represents the On the surface this seems illogical -- there are no two path of awe and fear of G-d. An individual stops his days that appear less similar than the solemn fast of life, completely ignores the physical side of his being Yom Kippur and the boisterous, joyful celebrations of and focuses only on the spiritual. One can achieve Purim! Moreover, the implication of this statement is clarity of perception on Yom Kippur by subduing the that Purim is the greater of the two days. Yom Kippur is interference and static of the physical world. compared to Purim, as if Yom Kippur were but a lesser Purim, on the other hand, provides a path to Hashem example of the Purim archetype. through love and joy. Purim teaches us that one can A deeper look at the purpose of these two holidays achieve an even higher level of connection to G-d and will help us understand their relationship to each clarity of perception through the feelings of love than other. There are two ways to become close to through feelings of fear and awe. Thus, Yom Kippur is Hashem: the path of awe and fear, and the path of like Purim, but not quite Purim, because love and joy. Both are necessary and the love of Hashem is more powerful both play important roles in than the fear of Hashem.

With thanks to Hashem our week-night learning program is in full swing! The classes are interactive, uplifting and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone present.

Please join us on Monday & Wednesday evenings at 8:00pm Class & refreshments. We would like to thank Rabbi Isaac Farhi, Rabbi Solomon Haber, Rabbi Sammy Sitt for leading an amazing program. Special thanks to all our generous sponsors.

Please contact the Synagogue office to sponsor a night of learning - 732-552-6030 Laws and Customs of Purim

1 5 Men and women are obligated to On the day of Purim, both men The Month of hear the Megillah reading, both in and women are obligated to give the evening and in the daytime. charity gifts to at least two poor The month of Adar is the last month people. Be as generous as possible. in the Jewish calendar when counting For minimum requirements, consult from Nissan. The have told us 2 the Rabbi. “just as we limit our joy in the month If one did not read or hear every of Ab, likewise we increase our joy single word of the Megillah, he has when we enter the month of Adar.” not fulfilled his obligation. If one This has always been considered a misses a word during the reading, 6 lucky month for our people. The Mazal he may read the word from the Both men and women are for the month of Adar is fish. For this is book he is using. the time that the fish multiply, which obligated to send to a friend a is the symbol of beracha (blessing). portion of at least two different The evil eye has no power on the types of prepared food. This misvah fish that are hidden under the water. 3 must be done on the day of Purim. During the flood in the days of Noah One is required to give Mahasit they survived. Hashekel for all members of his family. The latest time to fulfill this The Jews were compared to the fish misvah is immediately before the 7 in the water; the Torah is compared evening Megillah reading. to the water. Just as fish multiply It is a misvah to make an elaborate during this month, so to the Jews feast in honor of Purim on the day multiplied their knowledge of Torah of Purim. This year Purim falls out during this month. Moshe Rabenu 4 on Friday, we must be mindful was born in Adar, and he brought us "Al Hanisim" is added to the Amidah of the day and begin the Purim the Torah from Hashem. The Jewish and Bircat Hamazon on Purim. If Seudah early in the day. people returned and accepted upon one forgets to recite it, he does not (around noon) themselves the Torah and Misvot in repeat the prayer. the days of Mordechai and Esther. say it He does not have to repeat the up. This teaches us how special and The Fast of Esther prayer. important are the prayers of little No Hallel is said on Purim. children. Hashem hears their prayers On the day before Purim, the 13th Tahanun is not said. day of Adar, Haman planned to kill offered with sincerity and sends them the Jews. From the Torah we read “Vayabo his bountiful blessings. ” (the end of Perashat Queen Esther and her maidens fasted Beshalach) The Torah is read before and did teshuba three days before the Megilah. her attempt to convince the king to Purim Meshulash cancel this evil decree. The Jewish people have observed the practice This year in Jerusalem Purim falls of whenever they were faced out on , the megilla is not read with war and calamity. The idea of Children’s Prayers in its proper time. This can happen fasting re-inforces our understanding After Haman had made the gallows, only in Jerusalem, when the fifteenth that man does not prevail by his own he went to Mordechai and found him of Adar falls out on Shabbat. The physical or military strength alone, teaching Torah to twelve thousand Midrash explained that the megilla but rather we must turn to Hashem in children who gathered around him. his mercy to overcome our problems. is not read on Shabbat because of a In remembrance of Esther’s fast, we “Tomorrow,” said Haman, “I shall kill rabbinic decree, lest a person come too fast and ask Hashem to help in these children first and then I will to carry the megilla four cubits in hang Mordechai.” overcoming the “” of today the public domain. The megilla is not who seek to destroy the Jewish Though their mothers brought them read on Shabbat, so that the poor People. food the children refused to eat. should not lose the charity that they Zecher L' Mahaseet Hashekel They wept and wept until their cries reached the heavens. Hashem heard ordinarily receive at the time of the In remembrance of the Half Shekel their weeping and He said, “What megilla reading. The residents of that was given in the time of the Bet is the great cry I hear as of kids and unwalled cities celebrate Purim as Hamikdash, as an atonement or a lambs.” Kaparah. According to Hagaon Harav usual on the fourteenth of Adar. The Obadia Yosef Zt"l, it is proper to give “The cry is not from kids and lambs” general custom is to celebrate the the equivalent of ten grams of silver said the ministering angle “it comes Purim meal in the morning (there for 13 year olds and older. from the little Jewish children who are some who continue the meal into have fasted for three days and Shabbat)The residents of walled cities tomorrow are to be killed as if indeed Additions to our Prayers they were kids and lambs.” divide up the misvot of Purim over three days: Friday, Shabbat & Sunday. In the Amidah and in Birkat Hamazon Then Hashem took the decree that we add Al Hanissim. If one forgets to He sealed against Israel and tore it

This newsletter is dedicated By Rabbi Isaac Farhi & Family in loving memory of David ben Bolisa Farhi A”H By Isaac & Lisa Oved & family in loving memory of Sylvia Henick A”H- Sarah Baila bat Julia A”H Purim & Moshe Rabenu

woman in Egypt who had 600,000 children in a single birth. And who was she? Yocheved, Moshe’s mother. Hamanwill forever be remembered as The number 600,000 is associated with the number of the first person in history who would plot to kill all of the entire Jewish nation and Moshe was that child – the the Jews - men, women and children, from young to old. person who included every Jew. In the month of Nissan, Haman cast “purim,” lots, as Moshe represents our link to G-d's revelation at Sinai. part of his effort to choose the most auspicious time to Then, we stood as a unified nation like a single person carry out the mission. The lottery pointed to a date in with one heart. the month of Adar, a full eleven months later. Rather than being disappointed over the delay, our rabbis tell Attacking When We Are Vulnerable us that Haman was overjoyed. His lottery fell in the very Haman knew this well. He understood how our national month in which Moshe Rabenu, the greatest leader of unity and strength was linked to our bond with the the Jewish people, had died. Moshe died on the seventh Torah of Moshe. Haman was a descendant of Amalek, of Adar. Haman saw this as a sign that he would succeed. the first nation to ever wage war against the Jews. They But Haman was oblivious to one very relevant fact: attacked us in the desert after we left Egypt with the Moshe hadn’t only died on the seventh of Adar; it was goal of weakening our link to Torah. The battle took also the day of his birth. Our rabbis explain that Moshe's in Refidim and our rabbis reveal that the name of the birth was sufficient to atone and counteract for his place alludes to rafu yedeihem min haTorah, the Jewish death. people’s softening their grip on Torah. Why would the month of Moshe’s death matter to Haman understood that we are vulnerable when we lose Haman? Further, it appears that there was truth to our connection to Moshe and our unified bond to the Haman’s premonition. The month of Moshe's death Torah. The calculated formulation of Haman’s successful should have been a bad time for the Jewish people. And petition to Ahashveirosh for permission to annihilate us most puzzling, how does Moshe's birth in Adar counter shows just how well he appreciated this. his death in Adar? Our rabbis reveal the subtle implications in Haman’s There is a deeper meaning to the significance of accusatory words. Haman suggested that we were a Moshe’s birth and death in Adar. A closer look reveals scattered and divided nation, having lost the unified a key principle that remains as true today as it did in state of a nation which was like one person of a single Persia some 2,500 years ago. heart that we had attained at Sinai. He suggested that Moshe was far more than a charismatic leader who we had fallen asleep in that we no longer performed the led the Jewish people from servitude to freedom. We statues of the King – i.e. the King of Kings. received the Torah through Moshe to the point that it is Haman’s efforts succeeded and he received permission even called Torat Moshe – the Torah of Moses. to kill us. That decree attests to the fact that there was Moshe embodied all of the Jewish people. The Medrash painful truth in Haman’s words. But the bond between relates that Rebbi Yehuda Hanasi, the sage who G-d and the Jewish people is unbreakable – no matter compiled the Mishna, once delivered a lecture during what happens. which the students began to doze. To wake them up, We just hadn’t yet experienced just how it would work he challenged them with a question: There was a single in the dark context of exile. How would be saved? >> dark era. It was a national state akin to Moshe’s This is the secret of Moshe’s birth and death – a death and when his lots fell on the Adar, the month secret of Moshe's death, Haman saw that as a sign that his which Haman did not know. We had indeed lost view was confirmed. one level of connection to the unbroken chain that What Haman did not know was that Moshe's linked us to Mount Sinai. death itself brought about the birth of a new era in While Moshe lived, Torah was accessible directly Torah and Jewish history. In fact, the very threat of through him. The clarity of his level of prophecy genocide through Haman’s decree fostered a new was unmatched by any Jewish prophet. Moshe could resolve every uncertainty and answer every national birth. The commentaries on the Book of question. When Moshe died, although prophecy Esther emphasizes how on Purim, we reaccepted would continue to exist for hundreds of years, Torah in a different way. In so doing, we affirmed Moses' singular clarity was lost. On account of our everlasting bond with G-d, regardless if we that loss, there arose a need for us to delve within experience revealed miracles. ourselves, rather than relying solely on prophetic Moshe's death produced a new birth in Torah revelation, we understood that Torah study would require introspection and effort that would enable during which we discovered a new way to maintain us to arrive at Torah by looking deeper into our own our connection with revelation at Sinai. In the same understanding. way, the looming prospect of our own death on Our discovery of this new connection was born Purim incredibly brought about our own rebirth. only through Moshe's death. When we were saved, we realized that even though Although none of our prophets ever reached the Temple had been destroyed, we could still Moses' level, in the years that followed, prophecy maintain our bond with Torah. It was then that we remained in the world and it was still possible for us to connect to Torah through some level of Divine reaccepted Torah and from the depth of exile were revelation. The destruction of the first Temple, reborn into a new dimension of national existence. however, marked the sunset of the prophetic era. Haman saw only Moshe’s death; he perceived only The story of Purim took place exactly at the the end of a golden era in our history. He was blind crossroads of this transformation in Torah. to our national rebirth, one that Haman himself In exile, we would need to connect to Torah helped bring about. through a different means rather than through one which abounded with prophecy and the open This perspective remains with us through the miracles that characterized the second Temple. present day. We haven’t yet witnessed the return We discovered that although Moshe was no longer of revealed miracles or prophecy. And while the with us in the physical sense, his Torah remained guise of our enemies shifts frequently, we still very much alive with us. We realized that our bond find ourselves under constant threat. We need to with G-d had never been broken. Instead, it simply appreciate nonetheless that the story of our survival manifested in a different way. is always miraculous. The Torah of Moshe’s rebirth What Haman Didn’t Know lasts forever and against all odds, in our classrooms, Haman appreciated that after the Temple was and households across the globe, we continue to destroyed the Jewish people had entered into a flourish and reveal new depths in our eternal law. In Disguise

For one day let’s take off the masks that hide our single one to get beyond the surface. faces, that keep us blocked off from our souls, that Recognize that G-d gives us many pleasures to create false distance between us. connect to Him, and to create kindness and gratitude in our lives. Recognize that we have a channel to 1. Mask of Self-Containment. We don’t want to uplift our souls by making blessings on the food we be needy. We don’t want to be dependent. And eat. Try on faces glowing with the joy of living with sometimes we don’t even want to connect with our souls. others because we are afraid of being hurt. So we wear masks of self-containment; we tell ourselves 4. Mask of Doubt. Sometimes life is full of so much that we are fine on our own. uncertainty and so many challenges. So many parts G-d created us with a deep, spiritual yearning to of our lives don’t seem to make any sense. We walk connect to each other. We do need each other, and around wearing masks of doubt. We say we believe none of us can live happily and successfully without in G-d, but we walk around seeing randomness and our families, our friends and our community. Send disconnection in our lives. , packages that show that you care. Send them to people that you haven’t yet connected On Purim, listen to Megilat to or even to people that have hurt you in the Esther. Learn it and see the past. Let’s take off our defensive masks depth and see how G-d and try putting on faces that are planned every single, tiny unafraid of connection and detail. How He placed each vulnerability. person in the exact place in the exact time that he needed to 2. Mask of Busyness. Every be there. How He set up our salvation day we are busy – work, carpool, before our downfall. How He hid beneath the story errands, email, phones constantly line but revealed His kindness and love for us in beeping, the clock ticking. We are distracted by the the end. Let’s take off our masks of doubt and try mask of our busyness because life is hectic and it’s on faces alive with faith and belief in the exquisite hard to focus. On Purim let’s put away our phones and schedule interconnectedness between every person and the errands for another day. Focus on being. On event in our lives. transcending the limits of our ordinary days. On For one day, let’s work on seeing how everything that getting past the mundane distractions by sitting seemed random was in fact carefully chosen for us. down to a festive Purim meal with family and How something that seemed so painful at one time friends. Eat delicious food. Have deep conversations. brought us to a place we never could have reached Try on open, focused faces that can see the blessings without it. Let’s pretend for one day that and the beauty of the people and the abundance we are reading the stories surrounding us. of our lives out loud, and that we are not ashamed Mask of Materialism. Sometimes we get mired 3. to face ourselves, to hear down in the materialism of our lives. We wear masks our secrets, to take off of identifying with just the surfaces, just the objects in our lives. And this narrows our vision and blocks the masks that block us our path. We don’t need to deny ourselves the from everything that is real. physical pleasures of this world. On Purim use every Purim Schedule

Thursday, February 25 - Ta'anit Esther Shabbat, February 27 – Shushan Purim Fast begins 5:28 am Shahrit 8:30 a.m. Shaharit 7:00 am Rabbi's Class 4:15 p.m. Minhah with tefillin 5:15 pm Minha followed Arbit & Megillah Reading 6:00 pm by Seuda Shelisheet 5:05 p.m. Fast ends 6:13 pm Arbit 6:05 p.m. Shabbat Ends 6:24 pm Friday, February 26 - Purim Day Shaharit 7:00 am Megillah (Approx) 7:35 am Late Megillah reading 10:00 am Minha, Kabalat Shabbat & Arbit 5:20 pm Candle Lighting 5:24 pm

Edmond J. Safra Synagogue Joseph S. Jemal Synagogue 75 Hathaway Avenue Deal NJ 07723

Deal Florida Thursday April 2 Minha & Arbit 6:30 pm 6:30 pm Bedikat Hames after 7:50 pm 7:52 pm

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