Purim and Freedom

There is an amazing sense of freedom that I feel at the top of a mountain. This might be the best part of skiing; the opportunity to see the beauty of the world from the top of a mountain. This ski day was a bit different since it fell on the day before Purim, a celebration of the day the Jews snatched freedom from the jaws of destruction. 

I know that I have written about Purim, the holiday with a female lead character who saves the entire nation of Jews from death. But this year it felt a bit different, and  the meaning of freedom as seen from the top of a mountain seemed profound. In part because Purim is a holiday  that teaches us the power of one evil voice. Haman sets out to destroy the Jews because one Jew refuses to bow to him. One man's ego set mass destruction in motion. And one woman's courage saves a nation

At one point in the story Esther hesitates and her uncle Mordecai says to her:

Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"

I wonder...would I stand up? Do I have the courage to fight to freedom for myself and others? Do I understand how blessed I am, and that by Jewish tradition those blessings have corresponding  responsibilities of Tikkum Olam, healing the universe.

As I stand at the top of the mountain I realize how easy it would be to judge others' actions and choices from this mountain top view, something I like to call ski lift spirituality. We ride to the top of the mountain, get off the lift in our warm clothes on our expensive skis, look around and declare "wow...this is a spiritual experience" and then ski down. What if at the top of the mountain I had to give my warm clothes away, or recognize that I was this blessed, this privileged only so that I could help others. What if someone told me that I had been given the gift of warmth and freedom so that I could bring warmth and freedom to others, and that to turn away from this task would cost me my life? Would I fight for freedom, no matter the cost?  

Purim is a time of laughter and celebration...and at the same time a reminder that freedom is costly, and the actions of one individual, for good or for evil, can change the course of a nation.