It is on many minds this year that celebrating Purim with its customary joy and child-orientated jest, will be somewhat difficult.
The events of October 7 were too horrific.
In defence of their right to live sovereign, in their ancestral homeland, the people of Israel, the only Jewish state on our planet, are once again at war.
The enemy, this time, is Hamas, part of an Iran-funded and Iran-directed alliance of armies, intent on killing all the people of Israel.
As Israel defends itself, well-organized armies of pro-Hamas demonstrators pour onto the streets in cities around the world accusing Israel of genocide while they shout for the elimination of all the people in Israel.
In these circumstances, many of us simply feel that a typical Purim celebration might be odd, if not also disrespectful. But we would be wrong to feel that way. We would fail our commitment to our people and to our history and misplace our sense of empathy were we to “curtail” Purim.
This conviction was emphasized in remarks by a mother to her daughter on the occasion of the young girl’s bat mitzvah last week.
“How can I convey–and frankly, how will I experience– the emotional joy of this incredible simcha amidst what has been the most heart-shattering, destabilizing period of time for Jews in our generation. In short, how do we celebrate in a post- October 7th reality?
“The answer, of course…is that it is possible, and in fact, very Jewish, to hold both truths at the same time. The pain of loss, the pain of feeling besieged as a people, the pain of praying for the safety and return of our hostages, the pain of a bloody war that continues to take immense tolls.
“Those truths of pain can, and do, live alongside the absolute, indescribable joy and complete pride in watching our daughter, step into Jewish adulthood….As Jews, it is not just a frivolity, but it is actually a mandate, to focus on, to cultivate, and to choose joy–even when it might be hard to do so….
“Being a Jew means being responsible toward others,” she told her daughter. “We live in a world in which it might be easy to think that the point of life is for us to care only for oneself– to advance in power and privilege for the sake of our own advancement as individuals. What Queen Esther reminds us is that all the power and glory in the world are meaningless if we lose sight of who we are, and the community and values that we are tethered to. To be tethered to a people and a set of values comes with great responsibility but it is also a great privilege.”
The set of values to which GAJE is happily tethered are those that the Jewish people have brought to the world. Celebrating Purim this year with our children, despite post-October 7 life, affirms for them the pre-eminence of those values.
The foundational step for children in helping them discover and feel at home in those values, is through Jewish education.
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June 11, 2024 has been set for Ontario’s appeal of the 46-page decision by Judge Eugenia Papageorgiou denying the province’s request to dismiss GAJE’s application for fairness in educational funding before it has actually been argued in court. If the appeal fails, the application proceeds to a hearing on its merits. If the appeal succeeds, GAJE will appeal.
If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit, please click here.
For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com
Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of underwriting the costs of the lawsuit.
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Shabbat shalom. Chag Purim Samayach. Am Yisrael Chai.
Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)
March 22, 2024
Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education 