OPINION: PURIM – Hope, Courage…
Shalom friend,
This week we celebrate Purim.
Approximately two and a half thousand years ago, the King of Persia issued a decree – planned and formulated by his Prime Minister, Haman – to annihilate every Jewish man, woman and child in the Persian Empire.
This would have been the first Holocaust; had it not been averted – due to the courage and obedience of one woman, Queen Esther (Hadassah).
Esther, unbeknown to the king, was a Jewess. For those unfamiliar with the historic account of Purim, please read the Book of Esther in the Bible.
Purim is a time to remember and recognize that throughout history although the Jews have faced great adversity and attempts to annihilate them, the Jewish spirit has survived.
Esther was a heroine of the Jews, as are the women today who suffered the loss of their family members in the October 7 massacre.
The women who live each day in the hope that their children, grandchildren and siblings will return; fight for their release and never weary of breathing hope into the hearts of others – these are the ‘Esthers of our age.’
They teach us how to face adversity through courage, faith, strength and unity.
They believe, as should we all, that there is always hope – ‘Ha Tikvah’.
This Purim, we recognize the women of the victims of October 7, and we uphold them as an example to all women, of what the spirit can overcome and achieve when love is its flame.
Sunday, we shall gather and speak out as a united voice in solidarity with the families of the October 7 victims; the hostages and their families, and the fallen and fighting heroes of the IDF and their families.
We shall, now and always, stand in solidarity with all the people of the PROMISED, SOVEREIGN and ETERNAL NATION of ISRAEL.
AM YISRAEL CHAI!
-Bobby Meyer
