Up is not up and down is not down

Today is Purim! And that means that today everything is upside down. Haman’s desire to destroy the Jews was turned on its head and the Jews were victorious. The very gallows that Mordechai was to be hanged, became the hanging place of Haman. Mordechai who was to be shamed parading Haman through the streets became the the paraded. Esther became exalted and the people were all taxed but the Jews were not. And the Jews celebrated. The Megillah captures this with the words – Vnahapach Hu – and it was turned over!

Often times we look at the world as up is up and down is down. Black is black and white is white. Good is good and bad is bad. There is no middle ground. And in truth, in a world of truth it is exactly that way. But we don’t live in a world of truth, we live in a created world which is a world that G-d created with a concealment.
That doesn’t mean that we are not to live a truthful life, it means that we are to embrace the reality that there is a middle ground that doesn’t demand compromise of the true values and doesn’t require us to be dishonest.

I was introduced to this concept recently as an idea called “moral imagination”. Many people see the choices in life as an either or. Either I live a moral life and i’m disadvantaged or I live immorally and I get to enjoy life. The wicked prosper and the righteous suffer.

Moral imagination, allows for us to explore that I can live morally and still be successful. Moral imagination allows for us to explore other pathways that allow for prosperity and success without living in extremes and at the same time living honestly and justly.

This is the message of Purim. Live honestly, live justly, live creatively and it will be “Vnahapach Hu” – it will be turned over and the true world will be revealed.

Happy Purim!