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Rosh Hashana Sermons 2008
Feb08
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Poetry warms a winter night. 12/07
Importance
of Minyan
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Message
from
Rabbi Seth J. Sternstein
Purim
5769 – Laughing in the face of our enemies
(Click
Here for Printable Version)
It has been noted
that many comedians are Jewish. This seems to be true. A quick rundown
of names (in no particular order) reveals that many of America’s
funniest comics are, indeed, Jewish. Jerry Seinfeld, Joan Rivers, Phil
Silvers, Jerry Lewis, Phyllis Diller, Jack Benny, Sid Caesar, Morey
Amsterdam, Joey Adams, Adam Sandler, Soupy Sales, Victor Borge, Lewis
Black, Jon Stewart, Billy Crystal, The Three Stooges, The Marx
Brothers, to name just a few. Some have suggested that, because Jews
have suffered, comedy has proven a fine way for us to “grin and bear
it”.
No time is better for comedy than Purim. The laughter we engage in is a
welcome relief from the threat of annihilation that Haman posed 2400
years ago. And not just from the ancient threat; our laughter stems
from our rescues and revivals from repeated attempts of tyrants
throughout history to annihilate the Jews. Purim teaches several
lessons. Surely one of them has to be that, despite the temporary
existential threat, the Jewish people will ultimately triumph.
Purim allows us the luxury of laughing at the specter of national
annihilation. Even when the horrors of Nazism clouded the future of the
entire Jewish people, our national spirit remained undefeated. As a
result, the Jewish people have arisen, phoenix-like, from the ashes of
Europe to become a powerful people once again. In that realization,
there is the laughter of a redeemed people. Nor should we be surprised
at that sense of delight. The author of Psalm 126 composed this lyrical
ballad more than 2500 years ago for the returnees from the Babylonian
exile:
When God restored the prosperity of Zion, we were like dreamers
Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with
exaltation…..
Over and over again the Jewish people has been able to regain its sense
of self, and its joie de vivre.
Perhaps that explains my own reaction to the recent editorial by Col.
Moamar Khadafi, the Libyan dictator, in the New York Times of January
22nd. Among other crafty lines, he writes,
“The basis of the modern state of Israel is the persecution of the
Jewish people, which is undeniable….The Jewish people want and deserve
their homeland.
But, the Palestinians, too, have a history of persecution, and they
view the coastal towns of {Israel} and others, passed from generation
to generation, until only a short time ago, as the land of their
forefathers.
What the Colonel advocates, in an apparently “even-handed” way, is the
abolishment of Israel as we know it, and the creation of one new
democratic state, in which all Palestinian Arabs live side by side with
Palestinian Jews. He dubs the new state, “Isratine”.
To the innocent soul, this sounds like a fair way to solve the Middle
East problem. The Colonel fails to mention the bald facts of
reproductive rates: 9 children per family for Gazan Arabs; 2 children
per family for Israelis. It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to
understand that in such a new state, democratic though it might
initially be, Arabs would be able, within just one generation, to vote
Jews out of the country. Once again, a Haman arises who seeks to
eradicate the Jews from his midst, and, like his forebear, does so with
deceit and guile.
Kadaffi’s smooth talk of dismantling Israel. Threatening words by
Iran’s president Amedinajad. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s (Prime
Minister of the Gaza Strip) vituperative hate-mongering. All this would
be alarming, were it not for the fact, that, as in Shushan, (where the
Jews had to defend themselves against attacks by Haman’s supporters,
after he was hanged) our people stands ready to defend itself. And,
when given the chance, our people defends itself valiantly. (A relevant
Purim joke: Nobody is afraid of three Jewish accountants. But, put them
in the Israeli army, and… watch out!) Apparently, Kadaffi, Amedinajad,
and Haniyeh have all failed to take note of the lesson of Purim.
Haman plotted and schemed to rid the Persian empire of Jews. In the
end, he was hanged, and “the Jews of Persia had light and happiness,
joy and honor” (Esther 8:16). We live in a time, thank God, that our
people is strong in its own land, and therefore, it is strong
throughout the world. Let us remember that when we take pride in our
culture, our traditions, our religious practices and our own language,
and when we stand together with our brothers and sisters around the
world, we merit God’s protection and blessings. I pray that we will
always exercise this spiritual strength, and that security, peace and
happiness will be our “lot” from now on. And may God continue to grant
us the opportunity to laugh at the stupidity of those who will not
learn the clear lessons of history.
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