Marc Schulte; Unsplash
There is a phrase found in Megilat Esther (the Biblical source of the Purim story), v’nahafoch hu, that means “and it was turned upside down.” That, combined with a rabbinic instruction to celebrate the holiday by drinking until you cannot distinguish between the hero Mordechai and the villain Haman, leads many people to view Purim as an upside-down day. Some Jews go so far as to celebrate the holiday by lifting certain restrictions or changing their typical practices. For example, one popular custom is for folks who normally keep kosher to eat treyf (non-kosher foods).
There is a lot of appeal and meaning to this idea of turning things upside down. A dear friend of mine relies on headstands for exactly this experience: the reorienting of the nervous system, the shift in our point of view. And yet, there is also danger found in both of the Purim examples. V’nahafoch hu refers to the fact that the Jews in the Purim story prepared for a day of execution which turned into a day of celebration. But then the Jews go beyond celebration and circle back around to the violence of their oppressors, killing thousands of the townspeople. And with today’s lens we have a much better understanding of the dangers of drinking to excess. There are many reasons it is not necessarily fun, joyful or safe to be unable to distinguish an ally from an enemy.
So how do we find balance? How do we know when it’s time to turn something upside down and how to keep things from going too far? I often return to Rabbi Benay Lappe’s “Crash Talk,” a theory of change that explores how we keep “crash moments”—moments when our core narratives or understandings shift dramatically—from undermining us. How can we instead bring visionary imagination and subversiveness to these moments? This is a process Rabbi Lappe calls “queering.”Many of this month’s sources listed below do exactly that, looking to shift traditional sources or experiences away from their patriarchal roots or other limitations.
This Purim, may we each find the balance of joyful upending, and the ability to look at the world differently while trusting the strength of our core values. Chag Purim sameach (Happy Purim).
— Sarra Alpert, Director of the Avodah Institute for Social Change
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