'Days of Feasting and Joy'
JERUSALEM, Israel -- As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress Tuesday, fulfilling what some believe is historic destiny, Jerusalem streets are a joy to behold.
The festival of Purim is at hand and a parade of costumed children from toddlers to teens walking the city streets is more fun than any reality show could ever hope to be. These children are living testimonies of God's faithfulness and the resilience of the Jewish people throughout centuries of persecution.
On Thursday evening, young and old, religious and secular, will read the Book of Esther as it was recorded word for word some 2,500 years ago.
From the description of the palace in chapter 1, the words paint a picture that draws even the youngest child. In some ways, it's almost as if it were written for children and the young at heart.
"There were white and blue linen curtains fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on silver rods and marble pillars; and the couches were of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of alabaster, turquoise, and white and black marble." ( )
Today's generation -- in Israel and in Jewish communities worldwide -- faces new challenges. What was touted a few years ago as the Arab Spring morphed into bloody internecine fighting.
Jews in France, Britain, Belgium, Denmark and Ukraine are facing anti-Semitic incidences reminiscent of the rise of Adolph Hitler.
Is it any wonder that Jews take heart in recounting the story of Purim every year? Like other Jewish holidays -- Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Pesach, and Shavuot -- God commands the Jewish people not to forget.
"And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month that was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor." ( )
What took place in ancient Persia is passed down from generation to generation.
"So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants." ( )
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made light of the battle he's faced for accepting House Speaker John Boehner's invitation to address Congress the following day.
"You know," he told an enthusiastic crowd at AIPAC's annual policy conference, "never has so much been written about a speech that hasn't been given."
None of the objections or personal attacks against him and his family, both at home and abroad, succeeded in deterring him from coming to Washington. He felt it was that important.
It seems no coincidence that Netanyahu's warning against a nuclear-armed Iran took place as Israelis celebrate Purim with feasting and joy.
