What's Up With the Mask?

What's Up With the Mask?

A Purim Message from Rabbi Yaacov Shusterman 
Chabad Jewish Center, Mt. Olive

Purim is here, with its food baskets, Hamantaschen, groggers, and of course- kids dressed in all sorts of costumes and masks.

These days, there is a lot to say about wearing masks. In the past, we would associate masks with fun and silliness, but now we know they offer protection. And, to be honest, sometimes, we find that there is a certain comfort about wearing masks. They allow us privacy when we want to be concealed. They allow us to become anonymous when we need to be.   Of course, the best part is that masks are removable. When we get outside, we have the liberty to pull them off.  

Purim has many themes, and the mask is one of them. Queen Esther hides her identity. Her very name means a secret. G-d is hidden throughout the story, leading the average reader to assume that it is a story of coincidence and fate.

Yet, the scroll we read is called Megillat Esther. The word Megilla comes from the Hebrew root work - Legalot - to reveal, and Esther, of course, means a secret. Esther wrote the Megilla to reveal this amazing secret - there had indeed been a great miracle! If one would read the sequence of events, one would truly recognize that G-d, although hidden and sometimes masked, was truly always there orchestrating the events.

And so on Purim, we dress up.  We wear masks and costumes to change the way we look in order to celebrate the mystery and the hidden. We wear masks to affirm that G-d is always behind the scene, involved in every detail of our lives.  However, let us not forget that the goal is to take the masks off and to constantly recognize this.

Please join us for a grand Purim party at the new Chabad Jewish Center on Thursday, March 17th.  Please visit our website at www.mychabadcenter.com/Purim for more information.  If you or anyone else you know is in need of a place at a Seder for Passover, please reach out to Rabbi Yaacov Shusterman at 973-933-6011, or rsvp at www.mychabadcenter.com/seder.

CHAG SAMEACH!