ESTHER, A Leap of Faith
A Purim Song:
Dabru Davar v’lo yakum Ki Imanu El
Go ahead and make your evil plans, They will fail, they will not stand, for G8d is with us always
This is a beautiful Purim song, about the book of Esther. An ancient farce, political satire that turns all too frighteningly real sometimes. On Purim We actually have the chutzpah to laugh, the need to laugh, the obligation to laugh. The interesting thing about this song is that it put the reason for our success, not into the hands of Esther or Mordechai but in the Holy One of Blessing, whose name never appears in the Megillah. It is hidden, much like Esther herself is in hiding. It requires a leap of faith for us to find G8d in the story!
In the land of Shushan, Persia, many years following was a beautiful Jewish girl named Haddassah. But when the king’s men came to uncle Mordechai’s house looking for the most lovely to be queen, she was silenced, told not to reveal her true identity, and given a new name, Esther, from root as nistar, meaning hidden. After being made queen, she busies herself with queenly stuff. She hadn’t been paying attention to the happenings of the kingdom when she is told of Mordechai in sack cloth and ashes –”send him some new clothes”, she orders. She does not want to hear about trouble: hard to blame her, who wants trouble?! Mordechai then delivers my favorite line of the whole Megillah
Chapter 4:6 “If you keep silent in this crisis, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, while you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows, perhaps you have risen royal position for just such a crisis.”
Esther is afraid, bc the punishment for one who approaches the king without being summoned is death. And although Esther is scared she bravely, and with all her wits about her approaches the king: she takes a leap of faith.
In his book G8d in search of Man, Heschel says
The belief in “the hidden miracles” is the basis for the entire Torah.
What does it mean to take a leap of faith, that G8d/ love/ righteousness is with us when things seem hopeless, for Esther, and for us?
Reb Nahman of Breslov explains about a leap of faith, saying, there is a moment on the spiritual path (on the ladder of Return to the One), where one is suspended in space, caught between the rungs. Even if one stretches to full height, the gap is so large that one cannot both have feet on the rung below and your hands on the rung above. One can only jump into thin air, and hang for a moment between, where there is no Ground or sure hand-hold. Such is the practice of emunah, .. That leap of faith.
And perhaps just as we need faith, the Holy One needs our help, and it is Esther, a woman specifically who is G8d’s partner on earth.
Shechina, a feminine facet, or sphirah of the Divine is the indwelling presence, immanent, and all around us, yet hidden in the natural world, I invite to close your eyes, to breathe in. The oxygen is made by green living creatures: we are breathing one another in to existence. Know as you breathe in that Shechinah dwells in you as well as in every other creature, rock and tree of the natural world, you just must be aware. Perhaps you’ve experienced her presence in the magic of the Florida wetlands, or at the ocean, or on a mountaintop. The awful truth is and she is in trouble. We have treated this sacred garden, not as Divine gift, but as a killing field. We need to once serve the more-than-human world with love and care, to be G8d’s partners. The ancient fossil forests burn in a destructive fire, and their wastes fuel scorching, flooding, storms and extinctions. We need to love with our upper heart, to choose life.
And now you’re all tuning out, saying “we’ve heard all this before” You’re possibly saying , “this problem’s too big, there’s nothing we can do” As Rabbi Marc says, that’s your lower heart, that wants to keep satifying its egoic desires, and not worry about the consequences. We need to be Esther, to take a leap of faith, and respond with love and smarts – a feminist approach. It’s so easy to be discouraged.
For me this song, by David Wilcox, tells of the leap of faith of the Esther story
You say you see no hope, you say you see no reason to believe,,
that the world will ever change, you say that Love is foolish to believe,
Cause there’ll always be some (thug) with their greed or with a knife, To take away your daydream, put the fear back in your life.
Look, if someone wrote a play to glorify what’s stronger than hate,
would they not arrange the stage to look as if the hero came too late.
It’s almost in defeat, feeling like the evil side will win,
on the edge of every seat from the moment this whole play begins,
It has been love that mixed the mortar, and it’s love that stacked these stones,
and it’s love that built the stage here, though it looks like we’re alone
In this world set all in shadows, like the night is here to stay,
there is evil cast around us but it’s love that wrote the play,
and in the darkness, love will show the way.
Now the stage is set
You can feel your own heart beating in your chest
This life’s not over yet
So we get up on our feet and do our best
We play against the fear
We play against the reasons not to try
We’re playing for the tears
Burning in the happy angel’s eyes
… For it’s love who mixed the mortar
And it’s love who stacked these stones
And it’s love who made the stage here
Though it feels like we’re alone
In this scene, set in shadows,
Like the night is here to stay
There is evil cast around us
But it’s love that wrote the play
For in this darkness love will show the way
Love/G8d can be hidden. That leap of faith is needed to see that it’s all G8d, that Shechina surrounds us all.
Dayenu is a Jewish climate change activist group. We’ve had enough. Tonight we ask you to take a leap of faith, as TAO joins hands with Dayenu. Rebekah has some lit. And next week on Purim join us in Davey, and take the first step, write a postcard to show you care. we do it all for L’Dor VaDor, for our children, and because as Jews we are commanded to choose life, take a leap of faith like Esther.
Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I’m through with playing by the rules
Of someone else’s game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It’s time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap
It’s time to try defying gravity
I think I’ll try defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye, I’m defying gravity
And you won’t bring me down!
Miryam's Space 