Happy Purim! How can one rejoice in challenging times? In recent days, people have asked me again for these words that I published a year ago on the eve of Purim, the holiday of joy. So here they are. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes about joy:
"What redeems life is joy. Joy has the power to defeat despair. Joy does not speak the language of reason. It says: yes, life is sometimes unfair and the world is not just, but the very fact that life is short makes every moment precious. Rejoice, be glad, sing, join the dance even if it does not suit your dignity. Joy bathes life in light. It liberates the soul from the prison of the self.
Joy does not solve problems, but it gives us the strength to continue searching for the solution. It strengthens the faith we need to face our future without fear, and to heal something of the fractures of our wounded world.
Judaism is not a comforting illusion, as if everything is fine in our dark world. Judaism is the courage to celebrate in the heart of uncertainty."
Happy Purim and Shabbat Shalom.
Booklet download in English
Download booklet in Hebrew
