P urim 5777

“And made it a day of feasting and joy” (Esther 9:17) Rav Tzadok in his sefer Machshavos Charutz (13) writes that it’s been the custom for generations to promote laughter on Purim. To understand why we need to understand what laughter signifies.

Yitzchak Avinu’s name means laughter. It’s interesting to note that his name is in the future tense: “He will laugh.” The gemara in Avodah Zarah (3b) says there’s no laughter before Hashem except in the future. Similarly Dovid Hamelech writes in Tehillim (126:2) “Then our mouths will be filled with laughter.”

At what point in the future will this laughter be fulfilled? (Rav Yaakov S. Weinberg Beis Efraim)

I was buried in a mountain of paperwork and I didn’t even have half the documents I needed.

My daughter was planning to attend school in England and I needed to procure either a student visa for England or European citizenship.

Obtaining an English visa was extremely difficult. However there were enough countries on the Continent willing to assuage their guilty consciences over World War II and grant citizenship to the descendants of anyone who had to forego theirs during those horrific years.

I couldn’t miss the Hashgachah and irony that it may be this citizenship that would enable my daughter to learn and become a stronger bas Yisrael. Yet I loathed the idea of reforging any connection with those who tried to destroy us. Still until we knew if we’d procure the English visa I had to assemble the documents for European citizenship.

The Daas Zekeinim (Bereishis 15:1) tells us that Yitzchak symbolizes techiyas hameisim. According to the Midrash (Yalkut Vayeira 22) Yitzchak actually died at the Akeidah and subsequently experienced techiyas hameisim. The Pesikta D’R’Kahana (32) adds that it’s in the zechus of Yitzchak submitting himself to be sacrificed that Hashem will be mechayeh meisim in the future. 

There’s a connection to techiyas hameisim in Shemoneh Esreh as well. The Maharal (Chiddushei Agados Shabbos 118a) explains that the first three brachos of Shemoneh Esreh represent the three Avos. The second brachah representing Yitzchak is the brachah of techiyas hameisim. 

We can now understand Yitzchak’s name — he will laugh in the future after techiyas hameisim when there will be complete and lasting existence. (ibid.)

With a heavy heart I contacted relatives searched archives and slowly began amassing a pile of my history. Pictures signatures all ripped me to pieces as I gently studied each word every signature reaching for the gossamer thread of my past that had gone up in smoke.

The nerve of the officials and their requests! How dare they ask for my grandparents’ wedding certificate my great-grandparents’ addresses and more documentation of generations wiped out heartlessly?

Should I address the request with a harsh “I’m sorry no documentation is available as only some of us were lucky enough to escape alive.”

The situation was making me sick.

The Maharal explains that Purim too represents techiyas hameisim. The Rambam reiterates this by stating that all Yamim Tovim will be nullified in the future except for Purim. 

On Purim we were saved from the physical danger of annihilation by Amalek. The Midrash tells us that Amalek epitomizes the concept of leitzanus — laughing and degrading everything spiritual. Hashem annihilated that kind of laughter paving the way for the ultimate rejoicing of techiyas hameisim. (ibid.)

While working on obtaining citizenship I attended a family wedding cousins of cousins. I circled the tables reveling in touching base with so many relatives.

Toward the end the photographer urged the immediate family to gather for a multigenerational picture. As a mere cousin I didn’t qualify but I hung around for the fun. The rows of relatives posing kept growing as the photographer kept backing up to fit them all into his frame.

Click. Dozens of smiles frozen for posterity. Then everyone erupted in warm wishes.

And suddenly it hit me. While compiling the paperwork I kept focusing on the cruelty — the degradation of humanity that can bring a nation to heartlessly destroy families yet calmly ask for documentation of their lives just a few generations later.

But I was missing the true circle of events. Here stood the real results. The ultimate laughter lay in recognizing that Am Yisrael will never be destroyed. We outlived our enemies — and one day we’ll rejoice in the ultimate yeshuah.

He who laughs last laughs best.