From a Day of Hate to a Home for God

Last week, some tried to make Shabbat (Feb. 25) a “Day of Hate,” sending ripples of fear throughout Jewish communities. The previous week in LA, two Jews were shot as they walked near their shuls. When we hear about such abhorrent events, we may be tempted to lose ourselves in despair and terror. How is this possible in 2023? As we say on Tisha B’Av: “Oy, what has happened to us…” 

But during this month of Adar, we read the parshiyot about building the Mishkan, and we are challenged to reflect on what it means to make space for the Divine in this broken world.

Purim occurred when the Temple was in ruins, when we were in exile and our lives were threatened, when God’s presence was hidden.

Purim occurred when the Temple was in ruins, when we were in exile and our lives were threatened, when God’s presence was hidden. It’s a time of joy, but that joy is tempered. We see this in the rabbinic decision to not say Hallel (Psalms of praise) on Purim because we were still living under Achashverosh, not free to serve God and only God.  

Reading the parshiyot about the Mishkan, we may wonder how we can reconcile God’s desire to live with us with the hiddenness and exile in Adar and the Purim story.

Meor Einayim (a Chasidic commentary) reveals a teaching in the name of Adar itself, and suggests that we read “Adar” as “Alef”-“dar.” The alef stands for “alufo shel olam,” “Master of the world” and “dar,” “to dwell.” This makes A-dar the time “when God lives with us.” Meor Einayim says this is why even though Adar and Purim point to exile in our history, we still increase our joy (“mishenichnas Alufo shel olam dar marbim b’simcha”). It’s certainly a time when God lives with us, just not in the obvious ways we may expect.

Today, we long for wholeness and God’s Temple to be rebuilt but are faced with the reality that it isn’t. This makes understanding Adar as the time “when God lives with us” even more necessary.

Today, we long for wholeness and God’s Temple to be rebuilt but are faced with the reality that it isn’t. This makes understanding Adar as the time “when God lives with us” even more necessary. We acknowledge that it’s hard to see God in our lives and to connect to a parsha about building the Temple. It’s difficult to have faith when the world is in conflict. In the calendar, we are almost as far as we can be from Elul and Tishrei, when God is most obvious. Nevertheless, what Adar and Purim reveal is that God is committed to living with us between Temples, even when we feel disconnected or lost. And it’s not a coincidence that the Second Temple was built right after Purim, giving us Divine affirmation.

By showing up for each other in our shuls, we create space for God and joy even as we face fear and hiddenness. We fuse the love of building a home for God with the message of Adar.

We have agency in this. By showing up for each other in our shuls, we create space for God and joy even as we face fear and hiddenness. We fuse the love of building a home for God with the message of Adar. In this way, we make every Shabbat a “Day of Love”: love of people and love of God, answering brokenness and hatred with goodness. 

I am reminded of a prayer written by Rav Avi Weiss: “Ahavnu” or “We have loved” (complementary to the High Holy Day confessional “Ashamnu,” “we have sinned”). Rav Avi’s intention was to give us a text to reflect not only on what we did wrong but also on what we did right. During Adar “when God lives with us” (and with yom hakiPURIM in mind), I suggest that we read this text as both a descriptive and prescriptive prayer to ground us in how we can respond to hatred. In doing so, may we call our world to foster greater love and joy, and in moments of hiddenness, truly build a home for God.

“Ahavnu” by Rav Avi Weiss

We have loved, we have blessed, we have grown, we have spoken positively.

We have raised up, we have shown compassion, we have acted enthusiastically,

We have been empathetic, we have cultivated truth,

We have given good advice, we have respected, we have learned, we have forgiven,

We have comforted, we have been creative, we have stirred,

We have been spiritual activists, we have been just, we have longed for Israel,

We have been merciful, we have given full effort,

We have supported, we have contributed, we have repaired.

Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn is a board certified staff chaplain at New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center where she specializes in end of life, palliative, ICU and psychiatric care. A graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, she is also the Devorah Scholar at Congregation Netivot Shalom in Teaneck, NJ and the president-elect of Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains.