Everything can be a grogger if you believe hard enough. Zohara’s Jewish education at The MJCCA Schiff School and the Diamond Family Religious School taught me this lesson. Perhaps the first lesson we learn for the holiday of Purim is how to properly “boo” the bad guy, Haman. We could shout, whoop, and holler, but why expend all that energy when you can put some coins in a tin can and shake it all around the house? Like the shofar of the High Holy Days, the grogger wakes us up from the slumber of winter.
Next weekend, we will celebrate Purim all weekend with our Temple Emanu-El family of all ages. Friday night, we have our DFRS/Davis Academy Shabbat service, Tot Shabbats throughout the day, our megillah reading with Dad’s Garage Improv comedy troupe on Saturday night, and Sunday is the famous Purim Carnival with a Cause. There will be noise throughout the weekend that reminds us of the joy in the month of Adar—the sounds of laughter, children at play, and, of course, the grogger!
I hope you’ll join me throughout the weekend to celebrate the most important thing of all, our Jewish community. Just like in the days of Purim, we face an enemy bent on our destruction. Former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin famously said, “I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history.” We celebrate Purim this year with that same ethos. We are proud, we will rejoice in our survival, and we will not be silent.
Shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Max
