embrace paradox
rejoice in uncertainty
embody your fool
In the modern remake of the movie Ocean’s 11, one of the crucial scenes is when casino owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) is in the security room watching the monitors, on the phone with Rusty (Brad Pitt), as the team in the hotel switched the video feed to show the feed of the vault being robbed.
While walking through the casino, Rusty says,
In this town, your luck can change just that quickly.
This is the essence of the Jewish holiday of Purim, a celebration of survival against all odds.
The setting was ancient Persia. Haman, the chancellor and confidant to the king, decided he wanted all the Jews killed. He issued a decree and drew lots to determine the date of the execution. Then he had gallows built. The Jews were facing certain death.
And then everything changed. Queen Esther, who had previously hidden her religion from her husband, unmasked herself. She pleaded for the safety of her people. And the decree was reversed. Haman and his sons were hanged on the gallows that he had built to kill the Jews.
In the Megillah — the story of Queen Esther that we read on Purim — the phrase used to describe this is v’nahafoch hu, which means “and the opposite is true.”
The very thing that was the cause of the Jews’ suffering became the cause of their joy. What was certain to happen didn’t happen. Everything flipped on its head.
The holiday of Purim is a celebration of joy. It is festive and rowdy, a time of complete revelry. We are encouraged to be foolish in our celebrations.
It is a time to let go of the mind’s need to control and to let things get muddled and confused and chaotic.
Purim reminds us that what seems certain is not at all certain.
As Nevine Michaan, the founder of Katonah Yoga, says,
What you see is true. What you don’t see is also true.
The more we can release our grip on our perception of reality, the more we come to realize that there is no reality.
The more we release control over outcomes and process the more we learn that we never had control in the first place.
As much as we may think we know what’s coming, we have no idea. All predictions are guesses.
Truth is an illusion.
Whether you’re feeling at the top of your game or you’re dwelling at rock bottom, Purim reminds us that this too shall pass.
In this life, your luck can change just that quickly.
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