What do Purim and the biblical book of Leviticus share in common, (besides the fact that they take place this Shabbat?) On a simple level, the book of Leviticus and Purim involve rituals which we enact in different ways to unify us as a community.
Purim begins tomorrow evening and continues through until Sunday at sundown (please see below for more information about our Saturday evening Adult Purim celebration and our Sunday morning Family Purim celebration). As we all know, Purim celebrates the Jewish victory in Shushan/Persia over the evil Haman who wanted to kill all the Jews. We read Megillat Ester – The Scroll of Esther, which highlights the heroism of Esther, and the bravery of Mordechai. We celebrate these individuals for what they have done in the context of community. This is the one Jewish festival where we are told to “let our hair down,” to be raucous, silly and outrageously funny. Yes, we are supposed to tell the story and hear the reading of the megillah. At the same time, however, we poke fun at the service, laugh at ourselves, and engage in parody-making of everything taking place in our world.
Why do we do this? Because there is great power and strength in being able to laugh together, celebrate, have fun, and be merry as a community. It serves a social function, unifying us through our collective understanding of our shared tzuris and naches - our shared joys and sorrows. If we can spend time laughing with someone and enjoying their company, it will make the other moments in life easier to bear, and enable other types of conversations to take place. There are times, in the proper context, when we can use laughter to raise the ‘ordinary’ to a level of “k’dushah” – a level of sacredness and community. We also learn that individuals, like Mordechai and Esther, can only achieve their success through the power and support of the community that surrounds them.
We begin reading the Book of Vayikra, the Book of Leviticus, this week. At first glance, Leviticus appears to be dry and uninspiring. Initially, it appears to be a book focusing on the sacrificial system of the ancient Israelites. However, when we examine Leviticus more closely, we see that the contents of Leviticus are quite diverse: First the Israelites are unified into a core community, bound together by a common destiny. Their life is to be lived as a life of “holiness” where every aspect of their lives, from their business dealings, to how they treat their enemies to taking care of their animals to how they build their houses are all bound by the sacred. “K’doshim t’hi’yu…” “Be holy, for I the Eternal Your God Am Holy.
Second, we see that the land of Israel is granted to the Israelites as their inherited land, a place for them to live out their lives as a holy people. The Jewish people's connection to the land begins long before Leviticus came into being - it begins with God's promise to Abraham in Genesis. Leviticus reinforces this concept.
Third, Leviticus details many rituals, whether it is holy days, dietary laws, sacrifices, all destined to help transform the people into a holy people. Rituals can be comforting, whether it’s something as mundane as saying the Sh’ma at bedtime, or the rituals of Shabbat observance which unite Jews across the world, “ritual is a way of giving voice to our values. Each of us needs a sense of holiness to navigate the relentless secularity of our lives.” (Ismare Schorsch – Chancellar of JTS).
As we begin reading Vayikra, the Book of Leviticus, tomorrow morning, and as we come together as a community to celebrate Purim tomorrow evening and Sunday morning/afternoon, we express our gratitude to God for the opportunity to have joy, laughter, and a coming together of our sacred community, with words of poetry by our Reform Movement’s own Debbie Friedman, z”l:
Holy Place, by Debbie Friedman
These are the gifts that we bring
that we may build a holy place.
This is the spirit that we bring
that we may build a holy place.
We will bring all the goodness
that comes from our hearts
And the spirit of God will dwell within.
These are the colors of our dreams
we bring to make a holy place.
This is the weaving of our lives
we bring to make a holy place.
We will bring all the goodness
that comes from our hearts
And the spirit of love will dwell within.
These are the prayers that we bring
that we may make a holy place.
These are the visions that we seek
that we may build this holy place.
Let our promise forever be strong,
let our souls rise together in song,
that the spirit of God
and the spirit of love,
Shechinah,
will dwell within.
