Think Again - Bayamim Hahem Bizman Hazeh

First up a big thank you to the many of you who participated in our charity Day of Giving. Your generosity to Coogee Synagogue was overwhelming and will pay for all those little and big extras, that just happen in the life cycle of a synagogue. It will pay for our Purims, Pesachs, ice cream parties and cheesecakes on Shavuot. It will pay for our L’chaims, life cycle events, kiddush’s, brocho’s, Simchat Torah, guest speakers, our weekly Shabbat children’s programmes, our Friday night kitchen clubs. It will pay for our outdoor events, our outreach, shiurim, Chanukah, Wiley’s, whiskey, lollies and our Elijah the prophet awards. Our Giving Day will allow our synagogue to give back bigger, better and brighter. We raised $200,000 which will allow our honorary treasurer Alan Epstein to sleep a little easier. A big shout out to our president Wilfred Lax who was a lionheart in his efforts on behalf of the community. He surely rattled the cage of Tzedakah and placed the illustrious position of presidency on a tall pedestal as a proud pillar of our community.

You do not have to be a rabbi to draw a parallel between the biblical festival of Purim and the current events of the “Roaring Lion” war in Iran. The story of Purim centred around the ancient empire of Persia. It was 500 BCE. The emperor Achashverot found his coffers of the treasury empty. He had just concluded ruthless wars stretching from India in the East to Macedonia Greece in the west. Haman his evil despotic henchman recognised a vulnerable minority spread out amongst all the lands, the Israelites. They could fill the kings’ empty coffers. The decree was passed for the genocide annihilation of the Israelites in all the 127 lands of the realm. The big miracle was that the Queen was Jewish, she was queen Esther. She was pretty enough to make a difference and change the Kings mind. The decree was pulled back, well at least the Israelites were protected by the authorities. Haman was hung and the Israelites lived happily ever after. Well, until the next menacing terror threat of history. Today in the 21st century the same Persia (Iran) posed an existential threat to the Jewish people worldwide. I mean Ballistic missiles and rockets were aimed at the heart of Israel 24/7 each and every day 365 days of the year. These were accompanied by loud vocal chants and curses of “Death to the Zionists Israel, Death to America” emanating from the minarets. How long can you live with a primed gun pointed at your head. The chants rang out from Iran through to the worldwide networks of the Islamic mosques and prayer Halls. “Death to Israel, Death to America” accompanied by the burning of flags. We here in Australia were taught a terribly hard and wounding lesson to take these threats very seriously. Thank God Israel and the US acted quickly to pre-empt and struck decisively before any of the primed Ballistic missiles could be fired. I think we dodged a big bullet. Sadly, some missiles landed and 10 people in Bet Shemesh, central Israel were killed in a direct hit on a synagogue. The price of freedom is not easy.

That is what the blessing means as we thank Hashem for the miracles “Bayamim Hahem, in those days of yore and Bizman Hazeh, in these current days”. History repeats itself and so does the eternal blessings of gratitude, they repeat themselves and have additional relevance and meaning.

We had a grand Purim Party at Coogee Synagogue the children loved the puppet show; there were smiling faces, laughter and joy, fancy dress, prizes (thank you to Joel and Zeline Bloom) food, refreshment and hamantaschen. (thank you to Grandma Moses for the discount). We had music (thank you to Michael Shandler & Noach) and arts and craft (thank you to Ruby Borer)

Randwick Council did not want to be out done or gazumped. So, Randwick council felt that the Purim Party should extend for another day. They wanted to celebrate the next day, Shushan Purim in style which is an additional festive day following Purim proper. So, the council closed Coogee Bay Rd for pedestrians only and hosted a cultural event of music food and fancy dress. The street thronged with locals and of course Miri and I made our way through the crowds offering salutations of Happy Purim. The predominant theme at the Synagogue’s fancy dress Purim Party was the buzzing bumble bee to honour Matilda who was so tragically murdered on December 14. The predominant theme of the council Shushan Purim celebrations were the drag queens. I think they were all dressed up as Queen Esther.

I now close my eyes and sing to myself that other beautiful blessing of gratitude “Shechiyanu, vekimanu, vehigiyanu lazman hazeh - who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time”

Amen