Yet, in a few days, the “happiness bookend” of Purim will be celebrated throughout Israel.
The Jerusalem municipality, for example, is going ahead with a major parade that includes thirty floats. For some, this massive celebratory display when so many are suffering is reprehensible. Tom Barkai, a leader of the Jerusalem advocacy group for the hostages including her own relative, was unequivocal in condemnation, “This event is a poke in the eye, a gut punch, and a knife in the heart for the families and citizens who support us.”
Indeed, many are asking: How do we experience Purim joy, when we are in the midst of so much sorrow?
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