Page 11-THE NEWS-March, 1987
LUBAVITCH OF N. C.
Thoughts From The
Lubavitcher Rebbe
Puriiti and the Jewish Woman
By Rabbi Yossi Groner
The prime zirchitect behind
the miracle of Purim, when the
Jews in the 127 countries
under King Achasverosh’s
dominion were saved from
Haman’s evil designs, was
Esther. Risking her life for her
people, she braved the king’s
anger and entreated him to
have pity on her people. As the
Megillah (scroll of Esther)
records, she was eminently
successful.
Esther’s preeminent role is
recognized in the very name of
Me^lah. It is not called the
“Scroll of Mordechai” or the
“Scroll of Mordechai and
Esther.” It is called simply
“Scroll of Esther.”
A question arises to this
kind of recognition. The fact
that Esther was the one who
actually moved the king to
grant relief to the Jews is in
disputable. Yet Mordechai
also played a role in the salva
tion. Indeed the Megillah
testifies that he was the domi-
nent force behind Esther, not
only in her life in general, but
also in the efforts to avert the
danger from Jewry. Should
not the Megillah be named
after both participants in the
salvation — Esther and
Mordechai?
Mordechai, according to a
Chassidic philosophy, repre
sents Torah, as our sages say
that Mordechai in his genera
tion was equal to Moshe in his
generation. Esther repre
sented the Jewish people, this
is why she was also called
Haddash-Myrtle which repre
sents the Jewish people.
Torah, in its own right,
stands on a higher level than
the Jewish people. However,
once their qualities have been
revealed through the medium
of Torah, the Jew’s innate
superiority blazes forth, and
then reaches higher than the
Torah.
In slightly different words:
Jewry, the Baal Shem Tov
said, may be compared to a
land full of precious things.
Every Jew is possessed of the
most lofty qualities and vir
tues; by some the treasures
are buried deep within them,
and much work is needed to
bring them to light — just as
one must dig deep to obtain
the precious metals and gems
in the earth.
The same is true of Mor
dechai and Esther as in
dividuals. Mordechai, it is
true, had to persuade Esther
to do her part in removing the
decree against the Jews. But
Mordechai did not need to ef
fect any basic change in
Esther, to make a new Esther.
All he had to do, was to reveal
her innate qualities, to allow
her real self come to fore, and
from there she went on her
mission with her own strength,
impelled by her own convic
tion.
It was Esther who told Mor
dechai, “Go, gather all the
Jews to be found in Shushan,
and fast for me.” And it was
Esther who convinced the
Sages to include the Megillah
as one of the sacred writings.
Because the miracle came
about through Esther,
through her own self and
qualities, and those qualities
were infinitely superior to
Mordechai’s, the Megillah is
named solely after her.
The purpose of reading the
Me^^ today, is to learn how
one should act today. The
lesson we leam from the above
is the greatness of a Jewish
woman.
Every woman is the main
stay of her home, who sets the
tone and spirit of the entire
household. In particular, it is
the woman who bears the
responsibility of rearing the
children in the traditions of
Torah and Judaism, ensuring
that in every aspect of life
they live as Torah Jews.
In fact when the Megillah
refers to the Torah, it uses the
word “Orah” the feminine
tense of “Or” which means
light. The feminine part of the
Torah refers to the oral part of
Torah. And it was through the
steadfast commitment of the
Jews even to this part of
Torah, that they were saved in
the miraculous manner
through Queen Esther.
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Moshe Yess Brings His Music
To Charlotte In Honor of Maimonides
The Charlotte Jewish com
munity will once again exper
ience the music and humor of
Moshe Yess. Moshe, who was
once part of the Megama duo,
composed songs like “My
Zaydie” and “I’ve Got the
What Page in the Prayer Book
Blues.” He now does a one
man show and is better than
ever before.
Moshe's long career in
music, working on both coasts
(N.Y. and L.A.) has enabled
him to write many songs of
varying styles. His recently
released albums, featuring folk
music and Jewish country
western songs, are best sellers
in the United States and
Israel. Moshe has performed
in every major city in the
United States and Canada,
attracting large audiences of
young and old.
Moshe Yess
This event is in conjunction
with a special Maimonides
celebration hosted by Luba-
vitch of North Carolina, and
will be held Sunday, March 29,
7:30 p.m. at Shalom Park in
Gorelick Hall. The program
will feature middle eastern
foods like Falafel and Israeli
delicacies, honoring the region
in which Maimonides lived.
This winter marks the third
conclusion of the study of Mai
monides’ great work “Mishna
Torah.” This study began
three years ago at the in
itiative of the Lubavitcher
Rebbe as a tribute to the Ram-
bam (Maimonides) on the occa
sion of 850 years of his birth
day. Jewish communities the
world over are celebrating this
special anniversary of this
great Jewish leader.
Tickets are $7.50 for adults
and $3.50 for children. The
price includes entertainment
and as much food as you can
eat. For more information,
please call Lubavitch of North
Carolina, 366-3984.
Preschoolers Learn About Winter Holidays
Students at the Lubavitch
pre-school were busy studying
about winter and its holidays.
Tu B’shvat of course has a
special place in the heart of
young children since they
share many similarities with
young saplings. The Torah
teaches that a person is like a
tree in the field, and both the
child and the tree must have
delicate and special care in
order to be raised properly.
The children learned how to
plant trees and even created
their own forest as part of a Tu
B’shvat arts and crafts pro
ject. They also made holiday
fruit baskets and discovered
the special fruits which are the
pride of the land of Israel.
Winter brought a surprise
snow storm to Charlotte which
kept the children from school.
However, the children used
the opportunity to leam about
the clothes we wear in winter.
Fern Sanderson did a cut-out
project with the children.
Using old magazines the
children searched for photos of
people dressed in winter
garments and cut the photos
out and made a winter display
in the classroom. They also
had a summer cut-out project
so they could learn the dif
ference between winter and
summer attire.
Another winter holiday is
the tenth of Teveth, although
it is a sad one it is nevertheless
a holiday of hope when we
pray for the rebuilding of the
holy Temple. The children are
building their own Beth
Hamikdash through all the
good things they are doing.
Chemie Weiss who teaches
Judaica is helping the children
with this project, she says
there are more bricks going up
everyday.
Chanie also teaches the
children about the Parshat
Hashovuoah — the portion of
the Torah which is connected
to the week. The children
learned about the multi-color
coat that Yossef received from
his father Y akov. The children
made their own multi-color
coat as an arts and crafts pro
ject. Every week the students
have a new project which they
learn from the Torah portion
of the week.
Now the school is in the
midst of preparing a special
Purim performance to be held
at the Chabad House during
the week before Purim.
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