Enduring difficult moments

Rabbi Adam F. Miller

One segment of our Melton course, “Jewish Humor: From Sinai to Seinfeld,” focuses on the way Jews use humor to bring down our enemies. No one exemplifies this more than Haman, the great enemy of this month’s Purim story. After Haman decrees that all Jews are to be killed, comedy ensues. Haman tells the King how to honor a great man, only to watch his enemy Mordechai celebrated. He excitedly attends Queen Esther’s dinner, only to learn she’s Jewish and demands Haman be punished. While begging for mercy, Haman lies on Esther’s couch, making the King think he is trying to take advantage of the Queen. And finally, Haman is hung on the same stake he built to kill Mordechai.

After all those comedic twists, we spend Purim mocking the great Haman, laughing at him, rather than fearing him. In this way, humor enables us to endure some of the most difficult moments of the past — with stories where Jews cut down our enemies to size using wit and wisdom. In more recent times, we have Mel Brooks transform dangerous forms of torture into a musical number.

Humor is all well and good when dealing with enemies from long ago. But what about today’s threats? When it feels too soon to joke, and the danger appears more real. Less than two months ago, we collectively held our breath watching the terrifying hostage crisis at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. Society quickly moved ahead, within a week, Rabbi Cytron-Walker and the hostages were out of the news cycle. But how do we move on?

In a letter to Temple Shalom members, we highlighted the prayer, “Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha’olam matir asurim” praising God as one who frees the captives. Thankfully, our prayers were answered with all four hostages returning safely home. That prayer comes from a time, generations ago, when capturing and ransoming members of the Jewish community routinely occurred. This form of terror and extortion was so frequent, that our legal texts devote entire sections to exploring how much one can or should offer as ransom.

As American Jews in the 21st century, those dark days of the Jewish community living with fear might feel ancient. Today, we cannot ignore the rise of antisemitism across the political spectrum, evidenced by the rapid increase, annually, of reported incidents of antisemitism to the ADL. Colleyville joins a list that includes Tree of Life, Poway, the Kansas City JCC and too many other events in recent memory.

Given all of this, how do we respond? One answer comes from Jewish organizations taking steps to protect our community. While there are no immediate threats to our safety, we must remain vigilant in our security efforts. At Temple Shalom, our procedures follow the highest standards for safety today, with the presence of security guards and law enforcement, locked exterior doors, interior camera systems and open lines of communication with the Collier County Sheriffs’ Office.

In addition to these precautions, we remember the teaching from our Sages, “al shlosha devarim ha-olam omed, al ha-Torah, v’al ha-avodah, v’al gemilut chasidim — The world stands on three things: Torah, worship and acts of lovingkindness.”

We can choose to respond to acts of antisemitism through acts of faith and holiness by embracing our study of Torah, engaging in worship and performing acts of tikkun olam. Our community is stronger together. At the first Shabbat after Colleyville, Temple Shalom witnessed the healing power of community when more than 175 attended Beach Shabbat.

The world feels different now than it did at the start of 2022. May our new awareness inspire us to speak out when we see the seeds of hate being sown. May we find comfort and strength by gathering together, pushing back the darkness of fear. And may the world of tomorrow be better, because we were here.

A version of this article also appeared in the Temple Shalom Voice February 2022 issue. The subject matter is so important, I felt it valuable to share with our whole community.

Rabbi Adam Miller serves at Temple Shalom.