Purim: On Deadline

My Internet is down and the library closes at 5:30...

Random thoughts till deadline arrives: The Rama writes that if you have minor pain, like eye aches you don't have to fast today (Taanis Esther). he adds though, that you have to make it uo on another day. The Mishne Brurah cites an opinion that says that a nursing or pregnant woman need not make up the fast because the obligation never falls into place for them. On the other hand someone with a minor illness becomes temporarily exempt, but must do the fast on another day. I wonder why you don't hear more about this?

I am fond of the idea of the Ari-zal that Yom Kippur is called Yom Ke-Purim, because Purim has something over Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur we pull away from activities that could bring us to sin, and thus achieve purity. On Purim we dive in to eating and drinking and joking (oh my!). It is indeed a holy day if we can sanctify the venues that are opened for us on Purim.

This is also one of my favorites: The story of Purim took place over many years and during that time things went from point A to point Z. By making it into a holy volume of TANACH the rabbis ran the risk of isolating this book from people's real lives. This, according to Rabbi Chaim Schmuelewitz explains why one rabbi suggested that Megilat Esther not be canonized.

The idea is that if any of us would keep a diary over many (13?) years we would see the miraculous progression of events. We must remember that we could all write our own miraculous journal of G-d's hidden hand guiding our life, our own Megilat Esther.

The last chapter of the Megillah reads like a newspaper. There are taxes levied; that's the top news story. Then there's a summation and that's a wrap. Rabbi Yitzchak Twersky suggests that this news item feel of the short final chapter of Megilat Esther serves to remind us to find G-d in seemingly banal events.

We need to see G-d's hand in the daily news. We need to see G-d as our history is being written. These are words that are easy to write but hard to obey. I pray on this Purim day to have more faith for real. in the deepest way. How sweet it must feel to truly and consistently trust and feel G-d's hand in every step of one's life.