* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Happy Purim from Jerusalem! After celebrating Purim yesterday throughout the world, the holiday began last night in Jerusalem.
But why do we celebrate here a day later? This is not the place to enter into a halachic discussion (regarding walled cities at the time of Yehoshua bin Nun), but our sages have stated that we follow this practice "for the honor of Jerusalem and the Land of Israel".
During our long exile, it is essential to remind ourselves of the Holy City and the Holy Temple. In the days of Queen Esther, when Shushan was the capital not only of Persia but of the entire world, our sages wanted the people to remember a much greater city — Jerusalem. In evoking the memory of Jerusalem as it once stood in all its glory, hope for its rebuilding would be aroused. Once again, it would be a city that would enlighten the world, emanating justice, morality and faith. Jerusalem would have a special role to play in redeeming the world, and so would we.
Regarding Purim and Jerusalem, Rav Kook wrote that whoever recalls the greatness of the Holy City cannot become enslaved to foreign cultures. Such remembrance leads to self-realization that will illuminate the world and bring redemption.
Yesterday night I heard the Megillah read in Jerusalem. I thought about Persia at that time and Persia today, and what Jerusalem was then and what it is now... We are mooving forward, b"h.
Besorot tovot from Jerusalem.
