Purim, 5786/2026 - It *is* a Laughing Matter

Purim is the holiday of merriment, dress-up, silliness, and even perhaps a little alcohol-buzz to loosen things up even further. It’s not even just the holiday itself; the whole month around it is affected, as the rabbis tell us, “Mishe-nichnas Adar Marbim b’Simchah” - “As soon as you enter [the month of] Adar, increase your happiness.” The book that we read for the holiday fits perfectly in with this theme, because the Scroll of Esther is truly a comedic text. People don’t always read it that way, because I don’t think people associate religion or religious practice with humor. Nevertheless, Megillat Esther is a comedy. It contains a foppish, incompetent king; lude, almost burlesque jokes; comical switcheroos; and silly word play. All this in the face of near annihilation by our anti-Semitic nemesis, Haman (boo!). I imagine some people would posit that laughing and joking is inappropriate in this kind of dangerous milieu… but actually humor has been one of our most powerful tools against oppression. We stubbornly laugh at and mock our aggressors, because it takes away some of their power. It shows our spirit can never be broken. 

We don’t laugh out of obliviousness or naïveté. We’re not burying our heads in the sand and pretending nothing is wrong. We read our ancient stories to remind us that the persecution we feel today is nothing new. We’ve been here before, and these enemies of ours can’t ever seem to come up with new material. Despite it all, we are still here. Believe it or not, that deserves a good guffaw. And I’ll drink to that. L’Chaim!