Exodus<\/em> 33:27)<\/p>\nNo wonder I have felt frustrated in my attempts to discover a linkage between the fearsome content of our parsha and the levity and laxity which we enjoyed on Purim, just days ago.
\nThis year, under the influence of Purim and an overflowing cup of wine, I uncovered such a linkage, and it is a profoundly meaningful one. It has to do with the masks we wear, the fa\u00e7ades we maintain, and the role of the imposter in our midst.<\/p>\n
A common component of the Purim experience, especially for children, is the masquerade. Visit a Jewish neighborhood, anywhere, and you will see throngs of young people dressed up as Mordechai or Haman, Vashti or Queen Esther. Adults dress up in preposterous disguises, and even the most subdued among us puts on a face mask or at least wears a garish tie.
\nThe goal of the day is to re-enact the historical Purim. \u201cOn the very day in which the enemies of the Jews had expected to get them in their power, the opposite happened, and the Jews got their enemies in their power.\u201d (Esther 9:1). We masquerade, pretending to be the opposites of who we really are.
\nIronically, however, most of us pretend to be the \u201copposites of whom we really are\u201d not just on Purim, but all year long. We hide our real selves from those around us; we wear masks and disguises. We may reveal our real faces for those close to us, but when we are \u201cout there\u201d, in public, we play the roles that we think society expects of us. We deceitfully present a fa\u00e7ade to the world; an image which we hope will bring us admiration, approval, and material success.<\/p>\n
To some extent we are all imposters. Inauthenticity has been identified by social scientists as the malaise of postmodern man. I recently came across a poem which makes this point so well:
\n\u201cOh God of such truth as sweeps away all lies,\/ of such grace as shrivels all excuses,\/ come now to find us\/for we have lost ourselves\/in a shuffle of disguises\/and the rattle of empty words.\u201d (Ted Loder, My Heart in My Mouth)<\/p>\n
For many of us the masquerades of Purim are worn all year.<\/p>\n
We are now prepared to discern the link to Purim in this week\u2019s parsha. Did you know that, of all people, Moses himself wore a mask? He did not wear it at all times, and certainly not for all of his life.
\nWhen he descended from Sinai with a second set of tablets, the first tablets having been smashed by his own action, we read: \u201c\u2026As Moses came down from the mountain\u2026he was unaware that the skin of his face was radiant\u2026 Aaron and all the Israelites\u2026 shrank from coming near him. But Moses called to them\u2026 and he instructed them concerning all that the Lord had imparted to him on Mount Sinai. And when Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.\u201d (Exodus<\/em> 34:19-33)<\/p>\nRead the rest of the story near the very end of the parsha, and you will discover that Moses did not wear the mask when he was in direct contact with the people: Speaking to them, advising them, teaching them. He also did not wear it when he was in dialogue with the Almighty. At all other times he had the mask, or veil, at the ready.
\nMoses knew that masks may be worn, but only with great discretion. In moments of communion with the Master of the Universe one must shed one\u2019s mask, hiding nothing. Absolute authenticity is demanded when one attempts to reach or teach another person. Then there can be no facades, no disguises, and no masks. In Moses\u2019 case, his veil was worn for one purpose only: to assure that others would not shrink from his presence, to guarantee that others would not avoid him because of his frightening radiance.<\/p>\n
Moses knew when to assert himself publicly with the full radiance of his personality, and when to withdraw in solitude and in modesty. This is illustrated in the following homiletic comment by the great Rabbi Meir Shapiro, the Rabbi of Lublin in the immediate pre-Holocaust years, and the founder of its famed yeshiva.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the parsha we read of the mysterious encounter between Moses and the Almighty: \u201cAnd the Lord said, \u2018See, there is a place near Me. Station yourself on the rock and, as My Presence passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and shield you with My hand\u2026\u201d. (Exodus<\/em> 33:21-22)<\/p>\nRabbi Shapiro pointed out that all leaders confront this dilemma: When should I publicly and courageously assert myself with my entire being, and when should I retreat to my own space, in humility. The answer, he suggested, lies in the aforementioned verse: When you are in \u201ca place near Me\u201d, when the issue is one which involves promulgating My Divine will, then \u201cStation yourself on the rock\u201d. Then there can be no masks, no withholding of your personal talents and radiance. But, \u201cas My presence passes by\u201d, when the issues are neither sublime not spiritual, your place is \u201cin a cleft in the rock\u201d, in privacy, modesty, and occasional isolation.<\/p>\n
When we are doing the Lord\u2019s work we must shed our masks and assert ourselves in full authenticity, holding nothing back. But then there are circumstances when the Lord\u2019s honor is not at all at stake. In such mundane moments solitude and humility are warranted. At such moments one may resort to veils, masks, and disguises.<\/p>\n
We must limit our use of facades to the one day a year festival of Purim. But if our encounters with others and with the Almighty are to be meaningful, we must shed our masks, and act with courageous authenticity.<\/p>\n
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