Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 7, 2020

Sorry, Rabbis of the Talmud,

I didnt dress up in a costume

Like I was supposed to,

Didnt get so drunk

I couldnt differentiateblessandcurse

Like you said we should,

Didnt hear anyone chant

How Esther saved our people

From the evil Haman.

Though the week before I took the kids

To Tamars hamantashen party

Fed the tray of sweet triangles to the oven,

Scraped dough off the tablelike a good guest

On the holiday itself I went out,

Drank two overpriced gin and tonics

And thought about kissing

Someone Id just met.

And it was there, in the bar, that I realized

What you meant, Rabbis

Of the Talmud, when you say

ThatPurimis even holier

Than Yom Kippur. Nothing happened,

In that bar, just the idea

Of living someone elses life.

But that tiny glimpse was enough

To finally teach me (I think) what you meant:

Fasting and penanceare sacred

In an ordinary sort of way.

But to forget yourself so thoroughly

You cant tell the difference

Between who you are,

And who youd never be?

Thats as holy as you can get.

Alicia Jo Rabins is a writer, musician and Torah teacher. Her most recent book of poetry isFruit Geode(Augury Books).

Read the original:

On Not Observing Purim This Year - Jewish Journal

Category: Talmud
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