Message From The Rabbi

Rabbi Max Miller

At one point or another in our lives, we’ve said or heard the phrase, “doing the right thing isn’t always the easy thing.” Often, teenagers will hear adults say, “Just because everyone is doing it, doesn’t make it right.” These are both ways of saying that it takes courage to do what is right. Jews have been saying this for thousands of years, and it goes back to the holiday of Purim. In fact, it comes from the key moment in the story of Purim. 

Esther makes a difficult decision: to risk her own life and reveal her Jewish identity to her husband, King Achashverosh, or remain quiet in the face of the Jewish people’s certain annihilation. She’s scared, so Mordechai gives her a pep talk. He tells her, “Who knows, maybe you were put in this place of power for just such a time as this.” ^{(Esther 4:14)} Mordechai is telling Esther that she has the chance to make the hard decision, to risk her life, and save her people, but only she can do this. We can imagine Esther taking a deep breath, mustering up all the courage she has, and marching into her husband’s royal court to save the Jews. 

Every day, we have the opportunity to do the right thing, even if it isn’t always easy. We also have an obligation to model this kind of behavior for our community, to create the kind of society we want to see.

Let Mordechai’s words be our mantra for this week. When we see something wrong, we should do the right thing, even if it means going out of your way, taking extra time, or risking greater profit. Who knows, maybe we are here for just such a time as this.

Shavua Tov | Have a good week,

Rabbi Max