It is very important (to me) that my kippah be color-coordinated to my outfit. This is my issue and if you know me it comes as little to no surprise. Today, I wore a light green tie and, to match, a kippah with many shades of green. No big deal. Whilst performing my greeting ritual during morning carpool, some small number of people remarked that they appreciated my green. Why? Today is Ta’anit Esther – the Fast of Esther…what does that have to do with the color green other than the fact that I am slowly turning it as the day goes on without eating or drinking?
Then I realize that it is also St. Patrick’s Day…
…and spend the rest of the day worrying that the Head of the Jewish Day School will be perceived as having cared that it was St. Patrick’s Day and chose to wear green in its honor when it fact I had no idea and would have had no idea had I picked a different tie this morning in the closet.
That is a very banal example…but there are other confluences that are trickier to navigate. With today’s minor fast we are setting the emotional stage for the excitement, fun, revelry and joy that is Purim. I wrote in last week’s blog post about the dangers of “Pediatric Judaism” and how Purim often is its example par excellence. But I acknowledge that there is also the very real world that we live in and it is reasonable to wonder how to celebrate when Japan sits on the brink of disaster on top of disaster. Is it okay to dress in costume, sing, dance and make merry in light of all the suffering?
Judaism says “yes”. Emphatically so. Now and always. There is a time and place for everything…we can learn about disasters, debate nuclear power, and donate to those suffering on Friday AND put on a costume, shake a gragger, and sing and dance with our children on Saturday (night). For that is what it means to live a Jewish life in rhythm.
Here’s another example:
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are important and meaningful holidays. But they ought not be the only ones we experience each year. And if they are…we run the risk of believing ourselves or conveying to our children that what it means to be Jewish is to sit in synagogue for a long time in starchy clothes and sometimes to not eat and to not drink which might make you grumpy. Which sometimes it does. But it also means singing and dancing and drinking and eating and playing and wearing costumes and enjoying being part of a community, being in the presence of friends and family and sometimes just being alive. And we should seek to make the most of all those moments, because that is what it means to life a Jewish life in rhythm.
There are moments to remember and moments to cherish. There are moments we plan and moments that simply happen. In this maddening March month of monumental moments, I leave you with one of my favorite quotes by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel:
It takes three things to attain a sense of significant being:
God
A Soul
And a Moment
And the three are always there.
Chag Purim Sameach…Happy Purim to all!
