By Misha Galperin
PHILADELPHA, Pennsylvania –Make noise.
As far as Jewish holidays go, Purim, which begins Saturday night, has quite the party animal reputation, often filled with alcohol-fueled revelry (for the adults) and children in costumes as we raucously join together for the annual Megillah reading—the scroll of the Book of Esther. It’s also marked by giving gifts to those in need.
What is it we’re celebrating? You guessed it: the survival of the Jewish people from would be mass-murder. A recurring theme throughout Jewish history.
In the Book of Esther, the evil royal advisor, Haman, manipulates gullible King Ahasuerus into decreeing the massacre of all the Jews throughout the Persian empire. It is tradition to get loud during the reading, drowning out each recitation of Haman’s name with hoots and noisemakers.
The massacre would have included the King’s own wife, Queen Esther, and her cousin Mordechai. When we meet Mordechai in the story, we read he was among those who had been exiled following the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem. In the Ashkenazi Jewish tradition, the tone of the retelling shifts into the mournful tones of the Book of Lamentations. Like ominous chords in a movie soundtrack, it stirs a disquiet, reminding that the survival of Jews and of the Jewish people is imperiled.
This year, as we look toward Purim, we can’t help but be reminded of the destruction and profound loss in Israel just five months ago, on October 7, which energized an already-rising tide of antisemitism in America. We are reminded that Haman is no mere storybook character, but an archetype that lives on—and threatens—in our own time.
There is a chilling exchange in the Megillah when Mordechai charges Esther to intercede with the King. Esther demurs, fearing for her own life. Mordechai warns her, “Do not imagine that you, of all the Jews, will escape with your life by being in the king’s palace. On the contrary, if you keep silent in this crisis, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another quarter, while you and your father’s house will perish.”
And so, we are not silent.
We are proclaiming our support for Israel on our building and website, sponsoring speaker series on antisemitism in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania Katz Center and with Gratz College, developing a school curriculum countering antisemitism that is being piloted in California and Pennsylvania, initiating training programs for the Philadelphia Police Department, and more—locally and nationally. And right now, we are exhibiting paintings by Philadelphia artists of all the October 7th hostages, an installation that is drawing national attention; it is truly something to see.
Purim is a time for noisemaking. We are making noise. We hope you will as well.
Purim is here to remind us that we have always overcome our trials, and that we will again. And that is something to celebrate. Happy Purim.
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Misha Galperin is president and CEO of the Weitzman Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia.