On The Festival of Purim, the groggers, the noisemakers, were spun with glee. “Glee.” There is a TV show called “Glee.” It is about a group of young performers who love nothing more than to lift the spirits of their audience. They do so with their voices, their instruments and with their dance moves.
On Purim, we are supposed to be filled with “glee.” I looked up the word in a very old dictionary, a Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Edition and found these definitions: “entertainment”… “joy.”
But that just didn’t seem to do justice to the word, at least not at the times that I would say that, “I was filled with glee.” But, then, I saw the last definition given in that dictionary — “Glee – exultant, high spirited joy and merriment.”
After reading that definition, I think I am going to start using the word more often. I was in glee recently, as my congregation, Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach, had a wonderful Klezmer Band perform in our “On Stage” series. If you don’t know what Klezmer music is, you should be sure and hear some because, once you do, you will be hooked.
Klezmer music is filled with joy and, as you listen to it, your feet start stomping in rhythm with the music and, before long, don’t be surprised if you find yourself getting up out of your chair and dancing in pure delight.
By the way, there was something very special about the Klezmer group at our Temple. You see, according to their publicist, each member of the band is either a Holocaust survivor or the child of a survivor.
Yet, there they were on our stage playing Klezmer music and, even though many in attendance were up in years, by golly, they tapped their feet, and they got up and danced.
After the show, some of the Holocaust survivors who are members of my congregation were interviewed by the press.
While those interviews were going on, someone from the band asked me what my favorite part of the show was. I think he was asking me which my favorite song was. I told him that I loved all the music, and I loved the gleeful mood they had put the congregation into. But what I loved most about the concert was watching the faces of the band on stage.
These were individuals who lived through the horrors of the camps. So many people I know, after going through the horror of illness or of loss, be it of a loved one or of a job, or in the stock market, feel that they can never have joy in their lives again. Many even lose their faith.
But here were a small band of musicians who went through the horrors of Nazi Germany and, as they played their music, their faces began to light up with the brightest smiles you could ever hope to see. I could see the glee right there on their faces and that joy I saw in them … well, that was my favorite part of the show. The audience felt that joy and each of us was uplifted in spirit. We were all filled with glee.
As I write this, the Ramat Gan Dance Troupe is coming to us and I have no doubt that they, too, will lift our spirits. Most of us cannot dance like the members of that incredible dance troupe, but we can still get up and let the spirit move us. So, dance my friends, sing my friends. Let us sing and dance together and fill the world with glee.
Shalom my friends,
Rabbi Craig H. Ezring
Rabbi Ezring is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach (201 S. Military Tr., Deerfield Beach, FL 33442). Regular Shabbat services are open to everyone on Saturday mornings from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
