Rabbi Howard Morrison

This past Friday and Shabbat began Rosh Chodesh Adar #1. This being a leap year, we celebrate two Adar months surrounding the holiday of Purim.

Tradition informs us to increase our joy when Adar begins. This year, however, our joy is tempered by October 7th and its aftermath.

In the story of Esther, we read that the world is upside down (Nahafoch hoo). Many examples are cited. The most obvious is the wicked Haman planning to achieve leadership and intending to hang Mordecai. Only by the end of the narrative are the roles reversed.

Elie Wiesel taught us that the opposite of good is silence. Therefore, I feel compelled to speak out. When a leader of the free world criticizes Israel's response to the evils perpetrated by Hammas as being "over the top," the world is indeed upside down. The evil of Hammas is "over the top." The acts of indiscriminate murder of Jews and non-Jews on October 7th were "over the top."The taking and holding of hostages to this very day are "over the top." The hurling of missiles over civilian centers is "over the top."

Like the beginning of the Purim story, the world is upside down. Hopefully soon, the righteous of the world will straighten out their perceptions of right from wrong and see Mordecai as a true paradigm of the Jewish people and Haman as the paradigm of Hammas and similar terror groups.

Sincerely,
Rabbi Howard Morrison