Purim’s Truths and Falsehoods

A BRIEF JEWISH  THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK 

  
Purim’s Truths and Falsehoods

Many scholars hold that, while Megillat Esther, the Book/Scroll of Esther, is a superb piece of literature (it is written in a chiastic* structure) it none the less reflects a fictitious account of events in Persia.  The story fuses two classic Persian literary motifs: stories about palace intrigue and another about a harem woman who has reason to keep her identity secret….all this taking into account the Persian penchant for feasts/carnivals with lots of drinking, etc!, going on.  The book’s Author gave these a classic Jewish twist by turning it all into a tale about deliverance from peril.  We have heard that trope before, no?  Sad to say, we are hearing it now too, and that is where the book’s truth is found.  There are people in the world who hate Jews for being Jews.  Even worse, they are ready, willing and to an extent that we hope is more less than more, to act on that feeling. 

This brings me to the honor I had today to cast my vote via the internet in the World Zionist Organization elections.  Before doing so I had to register and as part of that registration, had to check a box declaring that indeed I was a Zionist.  Here is the first part of how the WZO defined what that means.  “Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, brought about the establishment of the State of Israel, and views a Jewish, Zionist, democratic and secure State of Israel to be the expression of the common responsibility of the Jewish people for its continuity and future.”  Yes, count me in.  How I wish the Purim story was merely a fairy tale.  Shabbat Shalom, RabbiB

* http://www.bible-discernments.com/joshua/whatisachiasm.html

ISRAEL UPDATE

Let Them Eat Peanut Products!!  Is Playing in the Dirt Next??

 “…the rate of peanut allergy in Israeli children was only about one-tenth that of Jewish children in Britain. The best explanation, they concluded, was that Israeli infants consumed high amount of peanut protein in the first year of life while parents in Britain avoided giving such foods.”  It is Bamba to the rescue.  Read the whole article at http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/23/feeding-infants-peanut-products-could-prevent-allergies-study-suggests/?_r=0