Community Magazine February 2019

24 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Full distribution to LAKEWOOD-DEAL-BROOKLYN- MIAMI & many more locations 718-645-4460 | sales@communityM.com COMMUNITY M A G A Z I N E The most widely circulated Sephardic publication in the world Call now for SPRING advertising packages! FREE GRAPHIC DESIGN DEADLINE 2/15 MARCH 2019 On the other hand, the Jews had only Hashem to rely on. Esther didn’t want the Jews to place their hope in her, thinking that she would be their secret weapon to make a political maneuver to save them. The first thing she did was to call for a mandatory three-day fast, day and night, something that was unprecedented in our history. As a result of that fast, the Jews made teshuva and humbled themselves. They realized that they cannot trust the king or anyone else. Queen Esther was so smart; she took an additional step to ensure that the Jews would not rely on their “sister” in the palace, instead of trusting in Gd. If they would put their hope in her, Gd would say, “See how far she can get you.” So, she devised a strategy so that they should not believe in her. She invited Achashverosh and Haman to a wine-tasting party, and they drank together, without a single mention of the impending disaster. She even invited them for more of the same the following night. Why did she do this? Why not go directly to the king and simply tell him she was Jewish and Haman wants to kill her and her nation? The answer is that she wanted the Jews to read the newspaper the following day and see a front-page picture of their queen wining and dining with the number one enemy of the Jewish people. She knew they would say, “S hema Yisrael! We can’t trust her either. Who knows how they brainwashed her - maybe she became a traitor?” Can you imagine how world Jewry would have reacted to seeing a picture in the New York Times in 1941 of the leadership of all the international Jewish organizations having a gleeful dinner party with the leader of the Third Reich, yemach shmo ? Queen Esther wanted the people to rely only on Gd. And sure enough, " v'nahafoch hu - the small fish ate the big fish. When we put our faith where it belongs, we have success. If we move away, we have a downfall, Heaven forbid. Back to Adar and Dagim Now we can come back and answer our two original questions. The mazal , the astrological sign of Dagim – Pisces, is plural because Adar is the month we celebrate the lesson of the two fish, trusting in Gd’s protection over reliance on our own strength. This is also the deeper connection between Dagim - Pisces and the extra happiness which is the essence of the month of Adar . When we have bitahon, knowing we are in Hashem’s hands, we feel secure and happy. Gd is watching us. We have nothing to fear, not Haman and not Iran. When we put our faith in Gd, we realize there are no mistakes in the world. We know that we have to put in an effort, but the results are all in His hands. Therefore, no matter what the outcome, we are a success, even if we don’t understand. לעילוי נשמתם של משה בן עליזה, יצחק הלל בן עליזה, והנרייט לאה בת עליזה, דוד בן גילה, רבקה בת גילה, יהושע בן גילה, משה בן גילה, שרה בת גילה, יעקב בן גילה, ואליאנה בת גילה. ולרפואה שלמה ליוסף בן אהובה מסעודה, שילת אהובה בת עליזה, ודניאל בן עליזה.