Good Purim, Good Purim.

I have a confession:

I hate Purim. When I tell people this they look at me like I have no soul.

I’m not sure what it is exactly, but I think it has something to do with the fact that I have trouble with a holiday, nay, a month that tells me I have to be happy. Something about all that pressure almost always assures that I actually end up having a miserable day.

Nonetheless, while I don’t like the actual holiday, I can still dig some of the thoughts behind it. Now that I’ve found some stable wifi on my travels, I’ll share some things I have learned in Purims past.

Purim is about learning that things are not as they seem. In the Purim story, what looks like demise for the Jews turns out to be success for us and the demise of our enemies. They also say that in the age of Moshiach, Yom Kippur will be come a day of joy – Yom Ki Purim, a day like Purim.

It’s about revealing what is hidden; when we dress up, the costumes we choose often reveal some hidden aspect of our personality. Furthermore, drinking often gives us leave to say and do the things you hold yourself back from when you’re sober (not that I know anything about that, I’ve just been told).

It also, perhaps most importantly, enjoins us to search for the hidden hand of God in all things, because that’s the way God interacts with the world in our days, and generally, we don’t understand what the hack she’s doing until the end of the story.

In any case, I’m obviously no Rabbi, and that’s the best I can do after no sleep on the midnight bus from Montreal.

Good Purim, Good Purim Everybody! Remember, Purim isn’t over til the party is, and in Jerusalem, it’s just getting into full swing about now.