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March 2004

Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Co-Director of the Morei Derekh Program for Training in Jewish Spiritual Directors

The following excerpt is from Rabbi Eilberg’s keynote address at the National Center for Jewish Healing’s November 2003 conference: "Seasons for Healing — Drawing Spiritual Resources from the Jewish Holidays."

Purim

Purim, with its hilarious burst of energy, celebrates the sheer surprise and exhilaration of our people's salvation. The Purim story is a tale of a brush with death. We were spared, and we respond with elation and giddiness. This is the car accident that miraculously does not injure the passengers, the tumor that turns out to be benign, the mugger who does not shoot. Extreme anxiety turns into existential relief, and seeks expression. The noise making, excessive drinking, and rowdy behavior express the relief at the heart of the holiday.

These kinds of moments may occur for people living with serious illness. There is the moment when one learns that the treatments have been effective, or that the dreaded screening test has come back negative. For others, relief comes less dramatically, but just as truly: when a friend or family member expresses love and comfort; when tears break through and bring release; when one recognizes that one still has the capacity for joy and meaning. Given the accumulation of stress and worry, it is important to experience moments of relief when one can.

And Purim is about the healing power of laughter. Clearly, for some people, going to a shul exploding with raucous energy would be impossible. Yet for some, Purim can offer what Marx Brothers movies did for Norman Cousins, who healed himself from a serious, degenerative chronic illness by watching comic movies. Perhaps someday we will better understand the biology of laughter's healing power. For now, all of us know our own experience of the cathartic, joyful release that laughter can bring to body and soul. The Jewish people have developed a great ability to laugh in the face of danger. Sometimes, individuals can do the same.

These "Spirituality Notes" are excerpts from our monthly E-newsletter. Articles are © JBFCS Rita J. Kaplan Jewish Connections Programs and may be reprinted free of charge as long as this credit line is included.

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