Purim in Wartime (5784 - 2024)

By tradition, on Purim,
One should drink to the point
At which we cannot distinguish
Between Mordechai and Hamas.

Oh, oh so many now without drink
Cannot distinguish Hamas
At all. They wave placards
Calling for that miserable goal.

And too many keep
Heads and eyes lowered, for
Those wearing the scarf are
Beyond history or argument.

They claim sympathy with
The oppressed — Mordechai
Now the oppressor — and know
Only the well-rehearsed,

Canned lines that date 
Back ninety years,
One hundred and twenty,
Over a thousand, years.

Those who recited those
Line that many years ago,
Our tradition named and 
Named, and this Purim,

We drink to the point
At which we cannot distinguish
Between Mordechai and Haman,
Hamas or the other “H”.

This story has a moral
Which we can distinguish:
With hidden strength, and
Hidden help, and open hope,

The people persist.
In due course, all the names
Of all the “H”’s
Will be erased.

The blessed day will someday
Arrive.
We don’t know when, but in
Perfect faith, we trust.

Am Yisrael Chai.