Wednesday, March 12, 2025

After 334 years, the 2nd Holy Temple in Jerusalem (see "Today in Jewish History" for Adar 3) was in disrepair. In the year 19 BCE, King Herod I floated the idea of rebuilding and renovating the Temple. Though many Jews were wary of Herod’s motives, the renovation was completed eight years later. The new structure was magnificent, causing the Talmud to state: "He who has not seen Herod's edifice has not seen a magnificent edifice!"

Link: Herod the Great

On the afternoon of 12 Adar II 5752 (March 17, 1992), a pickup truck loaded with explosives smashed into the front of the Israeli Embassy and detonated. The embassy, a church, and a school were destroyed. The blast killed 29 and wounded 242.

There is a quiet happiness: an inner sense of bliss, the innocent joy of a small child, one of wonderment and gratitude. It is a happiness to carry with you at all times.

Then there are those seasons when happiness blooms for all to see, bursting out in song, in dance, in celebration. A festival, a wedding, a time to feast and rejoice with family and friends.

But the ultimate happiness is the joy of Purim. It is no longer about you, your family, your life. It is about making others laugh, bringing smiles to the weary, celebration to those who feel abandoned, a feast to those who had lost all hope.

It is a season for breaking out of yourself, out of your character, out of all those bounds you have set for yourself—“beyond knowing.”

The light of Purim knows no bounds.