By Jenni Mangel, Jewish LearningWorks’ Director of Educational Leadership
Next week we will celebrate Purim. The rabbinic teachings and traditions about being joyful on Purim are clear, and draw from a line in the Book of Esther that is so important that it is canonized in the opening section of our Havdalah liturgy:
לַיְּהוּדִ֕ים הָֽיְתָ֥ה אוֹרָ֖ה וְשִׂמְחָ֑ה וְשָׂשֹׂ֖ן וִיקָֽר׃
The Jews enjoyed light and gladness, happiness and honor. 8:16
I’ll be perfectly honest with you: as we approach the holiday this year I am challenged by the verb “celebrate” and the adjective “joyful.” How am I supposed to celebrate and be joyful at a time when any page of the newspaper will tell you about destruction, despair, or devastation?
Purim (held on the 14th of Adar) almost always falls during the month of March, also celebrated as Women’s History Month. For this reason we often turn to Esther, the heroine of the Purim story, as a role model and source of inspiration. No doubt, Esther felt moments of despair during her leadership and feared the destruction and devastation of her people. But I have not seen much commentary or midrash on her inner thoughts. I wonder what Esther’s inner dialog might have sounded like. Was she able to draw on her Inner Mentor in order to quiet her Inner Critic, like we teach our Voices for Good Fellows to do?
Some of you have shared with me about your inner dialog. And I know my own. I also know that women today are roughly twice as likely as men to experience anxiety or PTSD and that “psychosocial events such as role-stress, victimization, sex-specific socialization, internalization coping style, and disadvantaged social status have all been considered to be contributors to the increased vulnerability of women to depression.” We know, too, that our family, friends, and colleagues who are part of gender minority groups are even more likely to experience depression.
As we face individual and communal despair, how might we generate strategies to create “light and gladness, happiness and honor?” How might we come together to don our figurative sack cloth, mourn our losses, and emerge into community and celebrations?
At Jewish LearningWorks’ Soul FULL gathering last month, some of us had a chance to learn about “glimmers” from Josh Feldman of R&R. We learned ways to cultivate “small moments when our biology is in a place of connection or regulation, which cues our nervous system to feel safe or calm.” This might be reading a poem, smiling at a person on the street, or smelling a recently opened flower. When we seek out glimmers on a regular basis, we can connect with our true self, but also with our community and tzelem elohim, the reflection of God in each of us. Even if we are not in an active state of anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic response, we benefit from noticing glimmers and create moments of joy in our lives.
And our ancient rabbis knew this! They knew that even as the Jews of ancient Persia experienced light, gladness, happiness and honor, they wanted that for us too. The four mitzvot of Purim are designed to help us remember our history, celebrate in joy, celebrate with others, and care for people in need. Any one of these acts could be experienced as a glimmer, and to do all in one day, well, even more so!
This week as I prepare for the holiday, I will not turn my back on the devastations that individuals and humanity are facing. Even as I bear witness to suffering, I will work to ease pain, and seek out the glimmers of Purim. I will celebrate Women’s History Month as I listen, and tell, Esther’s story; megillah. I will be joyful as I gather for a festive meal, mishteh v’simcha, and send mishloach manot to my neighbors. I will make my annual donation to my local food bank, matanot l’evyonim, and know that I am creating “light and gladness, happiness and honor.” This is what will sustain me.
1 Voices for Good is a two year fellowship offered by Jewish LearningWorks for women in positions of Jewish communal leadership. Learn more about the program and meet alumnae and current participants here.
2 Zagni, et al. 2016. Sex and Gender Differences in Central Nervous System-Related Disorders. Section 3
3 Reisner, et al. 2016. Social epidemiology of depression and anxiety by gender identity. Results, see Figure 1
Jenni Mangel is the Director of Educational Leadership and the Voices for Good Fellowship at Jewish LearningWorks. This year during Women’s History month she is elevating the memories of Bella Abzug and Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
