Dear CBAJ Family,
On behalf of Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob, I would like to wish you and your family a restful and meaningful Shabbat and a Purim Sameach!
Please see below for the full Purim schedule, as well as opportunities to give Mishloach Manot and for special Purim initiatives this year.
This year, many are asking themselves, how can we celebrate Purim in a year like this one, where there is still a difficult war in Israel with many thousands of soldiers still fighting, thousands of families displaced from their homes, thousands of families still missing a parent or spouse, thousands still recovering from injuries, and over 100 individuals held hostage by Hamas terrorists in dire, inhumane conditions and unknown circumstances.
In fact, as Rabbi Shimshon Nadel, CBAJ's scholar in residence last year, wrote in his weekly column this week, in 1941, following the sinking of a ship carrying nearly 800 Jewish refugees one week before Purim that year and in the shadow of the Holocaust, the nascent Yishuv canceled all Purim celebrations under the direction of leading Religious-Zionist rabbis.
That being said, as we saw in the aftermath of the horrific Simchat Torah/October 7th attacks, the Jewish people across the world have responded by simultaneously consoling the bereaved, honoring those we have lost, and refusing to allow anyone or anything to break our joy. That is the spirit in which I hope that we can celebrate Purim this year, with the faith and trust in Hashem that He will continue to deliver us from all who stand against us and the determination to let anyone or anything stop us from celebrating this joyous day.
I hope to see you soon at a tefilah, children's program, event, or class!
Am Yisrael Chai.
Shabbat Shalom & Purim Sameach,
Rabbi Ben Kean
