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How long does it take you to get towork?Are you one of those suffering theincrease in tube congestion?How many passengers do you thinkthe London Underground carried lastyear?Just over 1.2billion journeys weremade!A decade ago, the number was muchless at roughly 900 million and lifeseemed much more spacious commut-ing to work.Some people take the bus; othershave the luxury of the car.Increasingly, it has become fashiona-ble to circumvent the commute byhaving an office in the house.A fascinating story emerged a fewweeks ago. James Robertson, a 56year old man from Detroit, foundhimself in the headlines.For the past decade, he has beencommuting by bus and foot and walksa whopping 20 miles a day to get toworIk.

Originally he had a car, but it brokedown and was too costly to fix. Hedecided to make his way through thewintery rain and snow on foot.What would you do if you heard thisstory?Our Sages state Ezeh Hu Chacham?Halomed Mikol Adam: Who is a wiseman? One who learns from everyperson.Looking at James, we get Chizuk(strength). If this is the convictionthat someone shows in order to fulfilhis mundane job, how much more soshould we put in the effort throughtough times in order to fulfil our jobof serving G-d.

But just learning lessons from this isnot enough – we need to act.And someone did!Evan Leedy, 19 a university student,heard this story and acted withsuperb effect, launching an onlinefundraiser highlighting James walk.People saw and reacted kindly bydonating and within a week, he had

raised a whopping $330,000 forJames!!

I know what you’re thinking. If onlysomething like that would happen tome. After all, I also have it hard.Maybe you do, but I would like toshare my view as to why this personmerited such special assistance.Purim is one of the most fun packedfestivals. Great food, drink, presents,charity for the poor and of coursefancy dress!Two thousand years ago in Persiathere arose an evil man – Haman withthe power and decree to destroy andannihilate the Jewish people in ONEday.The Jews were in trouble and didn’tknow how best to deal with the situa-tion.A few years earlier, they had attend-ed the king’s banquet, against the willof Mordechai (the righteous Jewishleader) and now they needed hisadvice more than ever. Could theyapproach him? Could they now tellhim they were sorry? Surely thatwouldn’t go down well with their ego!Nevertheless, they put theirarrogance aside and accepted everyword of advice that Mordechai hadgiven. They repented and fastedpraying to G-d for three days and

p.t.o.

RabbiJonathan Tawil

Purim& The

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were eventually answered with thesaviour of the Jewish nation.You and I are around today due totheir gallant decisions.Over 300 years ago, King Louis XIVof France asked Blaise Pascal, thegreat Christian philosopher, to givehim proof of G-d. His answer wasastonishing : “The Jews, your honour,the Jews”.We Jew have faced a tough history,which unfortunately we seem to befeeling more frequently nowadays.Nevertheless we have survived withgreat accomplishment.Persistency in the face of adversityis what leads to success.

We live in a generation blessed withchoice.We enter the supermarket and we areengulfed with row after row ofproducts from across the globe.Send a guy that hasn’t been to thesupermarket for years in to buy aproduct and he will certainly get lost.Which row? Which product? Whichbrand?From toiletries to food, the rows arefilled seemingly with the sameproduct, in differentcoloured/branded wrappings.Knowledge is king, but decipheringthat knowledge and knowing how toprocess and allocate it, is really thekey.Two people enter a game and are givena task to buy a chocolate from thelocal supermarket. One dashes off,before the judge finishes speaking.The other waits.The judge continues: “There will beseveral chocolates to choose from.Make sure that the one you getcontains no peanut content and comeswith a special red label.”The first goes in to the supermarket,tracks down the first chocolate helays his eyes on and rushes back homeeasily beating his opponent. Thesecond takes his time, has to look for

the aisle, goes through all the rowsuntil eventually he finds the one prod-uct that is without peanut content.He arrives twenty minutes later, buthe is the real winner.

Knowing your goal before you set outhelps us process the knowledge thatwe will encounter in our day.When James Robertson went to work,he did so because he loved his work.Through thick and thin, he wouldmarch gallantly to work.He had a goal, chose a path and happi-ly followed, successfully achieving hisaim.

The world saw and reacted.Now he has been blessed with theability to fulfil his goal in betterstandards.

Purim is a time that we celebrate ourpersistency. As a nation, our primarygoal is to believe and serve G-dAlmighty.Throughout our history, there havebeen tough waves thrown at us, butthrough our belief we are steady andfirm, eventually triumphing incelebration.In 1899, Mark Twain wrote: “TheEgyptians and the Persian rose, filled

p.t.o.

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kids and adults alike –see how much you can

score.

1.Where is the longest verse inthe Bible found?

2. How many words does the Hebrew textcontain?

3. When was Haman hanged?

4. What was Esther’s Hebrew name?

5. Who was the first person in history known as aJew?

6. How long did it take Achashverosh to find anew wife – Esther?

7. Who was Vashti’s great grandfather?

8. Why is Mordechai called Ish Yemini?

9. How old was Mordechai at the time of thestory?

10. What proportion of the Jewish populationlived under Achashverosh rule?

1. Megillat Esther.

2. 43

3. Haman was hanged on thesecond day of Passover. (Purim isthe anniversary of the Jews'victory celebrtion after their war

against their enemies 11 month later)

4. Hadasaah.

5. Mordechai was the first person in historyto be called a "Jew". (Before then, Jews werecalled "Hebrews" or "Israelites")

6. Achashverosh searched four years for aqueen, during which he considered more than1400 contestants, before choosing Esther.

7. Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian emperorwho destroyed the first Holy Temple

8. Mordechai, who refused to bow to Haman,was a descendant of Benjamin, the only one ofJacob's sons who didn't bow to Haman'sancestor Esau?

9. Mordechai was a very old man during the storyof Purim? (He was already a member of theSanhedrin, the highest court of Torah law inJerusalem, 79 years before the miracle of Purim!)

10. Every single Jew in the world lived inAchashverosh's kingdom, so that they were allincluded in Haman's decree.

PURIM

the planet with sound and splendour,then faded to dream-stuff and passedaway. The Greek and Roman followed,made a vast noise and they are gone.Other peoples have sprung up and heldtheir torch high for a time, but itburned out and they sit in twilight nowor have vanished. The Jew saw themall, beat them all, and is now what he

always was, exhibiting no decadence,no infirmities of age, no weakening ofhis parts, no slowing of his energies,no dulling of his alert and aggressivemind. All things are mortal but theJew. All other forces pass, but heremains. What is the secret of hisimmortality?”

And to Mark Twain – I would answer –our conviction and belief in our cause.This Purim, let’s keep that convictionstrong, eat, drink, share yourhappiness with others and be merry incelebration of our special relationshipwith G-d.Purim Sameach!

REFUAH SHELEMA Yona bat Esther - David Raphael ben Masouda - Shira Ilana bat Susan Shoshana Farha -- Gittel Shara bat Sara Blima - Mordechai Ben Musha Yeta - Aharon ben Malka - Aharon ben Leah

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PURIM SAMEACH!!!Purim is a time for rejoicing and sharing the happiness

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