Page 110 - issue
P. 110
bound and those who have emergen- who clearly don’t fit the mold. manos. A few appear cooler and seem
cies and can’t make it to shul. He per- Sometimes I am in homes that are so to view me as a public service they are
sonally reads the Megilla perhaps 17 filthy I feel I need to shower afterwards. entitled to. In those instances, I feel sort
times or more on Purim. While I am When I go to their home, Purim of like someone who has come to fix
certain he could write a book about his reminds me that all of these people, their boiler or deliver their mail.
experiences, I want to share a few of too, are part of the Jewish community.
mine. (Contact information for the One of the highlights of Purim, for me,
Megilla Connection can be found in Sometimes the reading is poignant is a reading I do for many children who
“Letters to the Editor” in this issue.) and painful. Family members in inten- would not otherwise hear the Megilla
sive care stand around the bed of their read. To know that hundreds of people
Each reading experience is unique, dying loved one. They didn’t ask for fulfill the mitzva because of me is quite
whether I am standing in shul, sweating this; they didn’t ask for me to intrude special. I have read for very old people
profusely, surrounded by people intent- on this most intimate moment. Yet they and for very young people, for “hippies”
ly and intensively following each sound too wish to hear the Megilla. I put on and for the staunchest conformists, for
I utter, or whether I am reading quietly my best chaplain expression and read the horrifically dirty and for the immacu-
in someone’s living room, perhaps for them, listening to the monitors beep lately clean, for the silent and for the
someone who can’t even read Hebrew. in the background, knowing that for noisy, for learned rabbis and for lay peo-
During one of my stranger shul experi- someone in the room, it will likely be ple. One day I might read for you.
ences, one of the gabbaim decided their last Purim.
that, rather than use a printed When I lay down on Purim night, I
Chumash, he too wanted to follow in a Sometimes, people cry when I am can’t get the Megilla out of my head. I
kosher Megilla – my kosher Megilla – done. (Make your own joke here.) I hear its phrases and words over and
while I was reading! He couldn’t see the know why they are crying. For some over. It has become part of me.
words very well from his angle, so he people, the sense that they have not
pulled the Megilla towards him. Then I been forgotten on Purim is overwhelm- The year has come full circle. It is
couldn’t see them well, so I pulled it ing. A very unusual friend of mine con- time to start the phone calls again.
back. We spent most of the fifth and verted to Judaism after being a Catholic, Sometimes I wonder: What will happen
sixth chapters in a strange tug-of-war, a Mormon, and then a Buddhist. I told when I can’t read? Will I ever need
as I tried to keep moving along at warp him that he needed to hear the Megilla, someone to read for me?◆
speed to please the crowd. which had already been read in shul.
Although he knew the Bible well (better This is to inform the community
◆◆◆ than many native-born Jews, I am sorry about the Megilla Connection. Its
to say), he didn’t understand Hebrew. goal is to arrange a Megilla read-
What all of my experiences have in He sat at my dining room table, eyes ing for everyone who asks. We try to
common is that, for a short while (I closed, meditating on the sounds of the arrange as many readings as we can
think around 22 minutes is my record), words as I read. It was a transcendental before Purim starts, but there are
I am the most important person in the moment, for both of us. always calls with various last-minute
life of someone I have often never met requests throughout Purim night
and may never meet again. No matter Once or twice I have read for some- and day.
for whom I am reading, I draw strength one I didn’t even see or meet. Sadly,
from the listener. It seems even the one of them has an unusual phobia of To accomplish our goal, we need
most unlettered Jew takes the beloved being seen by people. So his family had your help! If you are able to lain or
obligation to hear the Megilla with him sit in an adjacent room. On cue, I drive someone who can lain, or if
absolute seriousness, even though it is was told to start reading, which I did, to you own a Megilla that is available
not a Torah obligation. what appeared to be no one at all. for use on Purim, please contact the
Megilla Connection at 410-358-
We Orthodox Jews have chosen to ◆◆◆ 9215.
live apart from others, and many
choose to further segregate themselves. Friday Purims present a special chal- If you need to hear the Megilla
They pick a shul where everyone is just lenge. Rabbi Juravel called once with an and cannot make it to a Megilla
like them in age, dress, hashkafa, etc. hour or two left before Shabbos: a cou- reading, please contact us before
They send their children to schools ple was in the hospital with a sick child Purim at 410-358-9215 (phone
where there is little variation in obser- and hadn’t been able to hear the only). On Purim, contact us at 410-
vance level. Let me remind you that Megilla. I was already, shall we say, in 358-9215 (phone only) or 443-416-
there are all kinds of Jews out there, my cups, so my wife had to assist me in 0974 (phone or text). We can read in
even within Orthodoxy. There are peo- getting to the hospital. How well I read your home, at the hospital, or any
ple who are sick, or perhaps don’t fit I cannot say, but it sounded pretty good other place you need.
the “mold” that has been made for us. to me.
Sometimes I go to the tiny apartments A Freilichin Purim!
of poor, single people with children I typically read seven or more times RABBI MOSHE JURAVEL
on a given Purim. Most people thank
me; some lavish me with shalach
102 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
cies and can’t make it to shul. He per- Sometimes I am in homes that are so to view me as a public service they are
sonally reads the Megilla perhaps 17 filthy I feel I need to shower afterwards. entitled to. In those instances, I feel sort
times or more on Purim. While I am When I go to their home, Purim of like someone who has come to fix
certain he could write a book about his reminds me that all of these people, their boiler or deliver their mail.
experiences, I want to share a few of too, are part of the Jewish community.
mine. (Contact information for the One of the highlights of Purim, for me,
Megilla Connection can be found in Sometimes the reading is poignant is a reading I do for many children who
“Letters to the Editor” in this issue.) and painful. Family members in inten- would not otherwise hear the Megilla
sive care stand around the bed of their read. To know that hundreds of people
Each reading experience is unique, dying loved one. They didn’t ask for fulfill the mitzva because of me is quite
whether I am standing in shul, sweating this; they didn’t ask for me to intrude special. I have read for very old people
profusely, surrounded by people intent- on this most intimate moment. Yet they and for very young people, for “hippies”
ly and intensively following each sound too wish to hear the Megilla. I put on and for the staunchest conformists, for
I utter, or whether I am reading quietly my best chaplain expression and read the horrifically dirty and for the immacu-
in someone’s living room, perhaps for them, listening to the monitors beep lately clean, for the silent and for the
someone who can’t even read Hebrew. in the background, knowing that for noisy, for learned rabbis and for lay peo-
During one of my stranger shul experi- someone in the room, it will likely be ple. One day I might read for you.
ences, one of the gabbaim decided their last Purim.
that, rather than use a printed When I lay down on Purim night, I
Chumash, he too wanted to follow in a Sometimes, people cry when I am can’t get the Megilla out of my head. I
kosher Megilla – my kosher Megilla – done. (Make your own joke here.) I hear its phrases and words over and
while I was reading! He couldn’t see the know why they are crying. For some over. It has become part of me.
words very well from his angle, so he people, the sense that they have not
pulled the Megilla towards him. Then I been forgotten on Purim is overwhelm- The year has come full circle. It is
couldn’t see them well, so I pulled it ing. A very unusual friend of mine con- time to start the phone calls again.
back. We spent most of the fifth and verted to Judaism after being a Catholic, Sometimes I wonder: What will happen
sixth chapters in a strange tug-of-war, a Mormon, and then a Buddhist. I told when I can’t read? Will I ever need
as I tried to keep moving along at warp him that he needed to hear the Megilla, someone to read for me?◆
speed to please the crowd. which had already been read in shul.
Although he knew the Bible well (better This is to inform the community
◆◆◆ than many native-born Jews, I am sorry about the Megilla Connection. Its
to say), he didn’t understand Hebrew. goal is to arrange a Megilla read-
What all of my experiences have in He sat at my dining room table, eyes ing for everyone who asks. We try to
common is that, for a short while (I closed, meditating on the sounds of the arrange as many readings as we can
think around 22 minutes is my record), words as I read. It was a transcendental before Purim starts, but there are
I am the most important person in the moment, for both of us. always calls with various last-minute
life of someone I have often never met requests throughout Purim night
and may never meet again. No matter Once or twice I have read for some- and day.
for whom I am reading, I draw strength one I didn’t even see or meet. Sadly,
from the listener. It seems even the one of them has an unusual phobia of To accomplish our goal, we need
most unlettered Jew takes the beloved being seen by people. So his family had your help! If you are able to lain or
obligation to hear the Megilla with him sit in an adjacent room. On cue, I drive someone who can lain, or if
absolute seriousness, even though it is was told to start reading, which I did, to you own a Megilla that is available
not a Torah obligation. what appeared to be no one at all. for use on Purim, please contact the
Megilla Connection at 410-358-
We Orthodox Jews have chosen to ◆◆◆ 9215.
live apart from others, and many
choose to further segregate themselves. Friday Purims present a special chal- If you need to hear the Megilla
They pick a shul where everyone is just lenge. Rabbi Juravel called once with an and cannot make it to a Megilla
like them in age, dress, hashkafa, etc. hour or two left before Shabbos: a cou- reading, please contact us before
They send their children to schools ple was in the hospital with a sick child Purim at 410-358-9215 (phone
where there is little variation in obser- and hadn’t been able to hear the only). On Purim, contact us at 410-
vance level. Let me remind you that Megilla. I was already, shall we say, in 358-9215 (phone only) or 443-416-
there are all kinds of Jews out there, my cups, so my wife had to assist me in 0974 (phone or text). We can read in
even within Orthodoxy. There are peo- getting to the hospital. How well I read your home, at the hospital, or any
ple who are sick, or perhaps don’t fit I cannot say, but it sounded pretty good other place you need.
the “mold” that has been made for us. to me.
Sometimes I go to the tiny apartments A Freilichin Purim!
of poor, single people with children I typically read seven or more times RABBI MOSHE JURAVEL
on a given Purim. Most people thank
me; some lavish me with shalach
102 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
