Monday night begins the holiday of Purim. A “minor” holiday, in that it does not require one to cease work and spend all day at a synagogue, but a major holiday in that it is a celebratory day, a day which is a response to the biblical story of Esther and her cousin Mordecai, and evil Haman. Haman, an advisor to the King, determines to kill all the Jews. But Esther, the King’s choice to succeed his wife Vashti, and who is Jewish (something she keeps from the King) convinces the King that this would be wrong, and the King turns against Haman and has him hanged.

So far, so good. And the contemporary Purim celebrations at synagogues world wide, are very celebratory, and are more and more concentrated on children. Carnivals, and costumes, and games and fun, along with the reading of the Megillat Esther, where Haman is booed with voices and groggers, each time his name is mentioned in Esther, and that would be 54 times. And then there is the tradition of the Purim Spiel – generally a comic play, often interspersed with the reading of the Megillat Esther – often raucus, showing off the talent of the amateur players. SNL skits writ large.

Our synagogue, Adas Israel, probably does Purim more lavishly than any other synagogue in the history of synagogues. Well, of course, I don’t know that to be true, but the staff works very hard turning large parts of a large building into a make believe world, serving food and frivolity both before and after the reading of the Megillat. And, oh yes, there is another tradition – a strange tradition that says you should get drunk on Purim, so drunk that you can no longer tell Haman from Mordecai.

But, as usual, there are complications. Two that I can think of this morning.

First, the story of Esther (as far as we know, it is only a story….but you never can tell what the next generation of archeologists might turn up) takes place in Shushan. Shushan, also known as Susa, and today the mid-sized Iranian city of Shush, is located on the western edge of Iran, near the Iraqi border. It was a major Persian city in ancient times, and the home of a large palace built by Darius and finished by Xerxes. Archeological remains of the palace have been found. And, in fact, King Ahasueros of the Book of Esther has been identified historically as Xerxes I, who ruled a kingdom that stretched as far east as India in the 5th century BCE.

Second, the Megillat Esther is more than just a story of the Jews being saved from an antisemitic tyrant who was out to destroy them. I quote from Chapter 9, from a translation found on the website Sefaria.org.

“For Mordecai was now powerful in the royal palace, and his fame was spreading through all the provinces; this man Mordecai was growing ever more powerful.

“So the Jews struck at their enemies with the sword, slaying and destroying; they wreaked their will upon their enemies. In the fortress Shushan, the Jews killed a total of five hundred of them. They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Porata, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, the ten sons of Haman, son of Hammedatha, the foe of the Jews. But they did not lay hands on the spoil. When the number of those slain in the fortress Shushan was reported on that same day to the king, the king said to Queen Esther, “In the fortress Shushan alone the Jews have killed a total of five hundred, as well as the ten sons of Haman. What then must they have done in the provinces of the realm! What is your wish now? It shall be granted. and what else is your request? It shall be fulfilled.

“If it please Your Majesty”, Esther replied, “let the Jews in Shuham be permitted to act tomorrow also as they did today; and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on the stake.” The king ordered that this shall be done, and the decree was proclaimed in Shushan. Haman’s ten sons were impaled, and the Jews in Shushan mustered again on the fourteenth day of Adar and slew three hundred men in Shushan. But they did not lay hands on the spoil.”

“The rest of the Jews, those in the King’s provinces, likewise mustered and fought for their lives. They disposed of their enemies, killing seventy five thousand of their enemies; but they did not lay hands on the spoil. This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and they rested on the fourteenth day and made it a day of feasting and merrymaking……..”

So……

I think we have a double problem here. I have always had a problem with Chapter 9 of the Megillah, with Jews killing more than 75,000 and then merrymaking and feasting. But today, Purim 2026, we have a second problem.

Israel and the United States are engaged in a heavy bombing campaign in Iran, today’s Persia, the country of Shushan. This is happening in large part because of the strong anti-Israel stance of the Iranian government since 1979, and its actions to support groups determined to destroy Israel. I could argue both sides of the question as to whether or not this is a legitimate war (although I think one side of that argument is the right one), but we must remember there are at least three reasons why this war is being fought (forgetting a possible fourth – that Trump was looking for an Epstein diversion):

(1) Iran was out to destroy Israel

(2) Iran was out to destabilize the entire Middle East

(3) The Iranian regime was an enemy of the Iranian people, who deserve better.

All three of these statements are correct. But in the attempt to safeguard Israel, stabilize the Middle East, and “free” the Iranian people, the country is being bombed in a campaign that as of yet sees no end. Innocent Iranians, as well as Iranian political and military leaders, will be killed and wounded, and their country and properties and lives will be badly hurt or destroyed. It is not a time for celebration, for frivolity, for Purim spiels.

To celebrate with hi-jinks the revenge taken by the Jews in Chapter 9, while Israel and the U.S. are bombing the same country, and descendants of the same people, today seems to me to be the height of disrespect and arrogance. Disrespect of, and arrogance towards, those very people we say we are “freeing”.

I for one do not intend this year to go to tomorrow night’s Megillat reading and party. I understand the investment of creativity, work and money that has gone into the preparations for Purim this year at Adas Israel, but I still think the celebration should be cancelled. A simple reading of the Book of Esther would suffice.

As for the kids and their Purim Carnival, I think that could go on. The kids have nothing to do with the war currently being staged, and they deserve and need a good time. So I wouldn’t stop that (that is going on today, by the way), but I would make an abrupt change to what is planned for tomorrow night.

Of course, the Adas Israel  festivities will go on. No one will be swayed by what I say. Many will disagree with me.

But……