Shalom All,

As our secular calendar turns to the month of March, so to our Jewish calendar reflects that we are now in the month of Adar and getting ready to celebrate the festival of Purim.  Purim, on the whole, is the triumph of good over evil, joy over sadness, chutzpah over arrogance.

The great Rabbi Hillel, in the Pirkei Avot teaches, “In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.” I know, he uses the words “men/man,” and I could have changed it to humans, or people, but it loses some of it’s oomph if watered down. What Hillel is really talking about here is what it means to be a mensch – a particular kind of man, of person, who lives with integrity and honor. And it can teach us so much about the heroism of Esther and Mordechai.

Shlomo Toperoff, in his commentary on the Pirkei Avot, points out a variety of situations in which one should strive to be a mensch. For one, he teaches that if you live in a community where no one assumes leadership, stand up and be counted and shoulder responsibility. Mordechai lived in Shushan, Persia, as a member of the diaspora Jewish community that had been exiled there after the destruction of the First Temple.  He “stood up” to become the leader of the Jewish community, because no one else had.

For another, he teaches, do not adopt a double standard in life: do not be pious in public, but in private remove the mask of religion, be a mensch and practice your faith consistently even when you are alone. Initially, Esther was told not to share that she was a Jew as she sought to become the new queen, and so she starts the story only being a Jew in private. However, when she found out that Haman’s evil decree included her as well, she dropped her mask and shared her Jewish identity with the king and saved her people in the process.

Esther and Mordecai, acted honorably and with integrity throughout the story of Purim. They are humans striving to be better than the people around them. Mensches who showed courage and spoke up on behalf of their fellow Jews in a very dire situation. 

May Esther and Mordechai continue to remind us to be our best selves, to live with honor and integrity, and to be that mensch! 

May you all have a Purim Sameach – a joyous Purim.

Rabbi Todd