Purim is coming soon. A time of mystery, of chaos, of resilience and miracle. A heroine as the main character, G-d's hand apparently hidden, courageously standing up for the fate of the Jewish people - so that things end up the opposite of what was expected.
In the Purim story, Esther leans into her power. Mordechai says, "who knows if for THIS MOMENT, you arrived in the Palace." The sages repeat this line as a mantra to us all, "who knows if for THIS MOMENT, you are here on earth." A mantra that we can repeat over and over, for each moment. Any moment could be your moment. How can you attune yourself with such presence to each passing moment? How to be centered when the world, the news, the systems around us are often chaotic?
That line rings eternally like some of the other powerful invitations in the Torah:
Ayeka, where are you? G-d calls to Adam in the Garden.
Lecha Lecha! Avraham is called to his journey of leave taking.
Hineni! Here I am, the response of Moses to the Burning Bush and Avraham during the akeda.
Our stories call us into presence, wherever we are on our journeys.
How can I be present with my feelings? With the people in my life?
How can I bring tenderness to the chaos around me?
Purim is an embodied holiday - gets us out of our minds, into presence, into our bodies. Even the rituals themselves bring us out of our minds - drinking wine, feasting, costumes to mask our usual stories and masks and narratives, generosity and gift giving.
I want to invite you into the themes of this month, out of our heads and into our bodies through a Sound Journey experience that I created through poetry and rhythm with musician Galitta Tassa.
You can watch (and share!) the reel version on Instagram or watch it here –