The Purim story is fundamentally an us-versus-them story. And even though it was written some 1500 years ago, it speaks across the centuries to the culture wars and political struggles of our day: The failure of our leaders to reach across the aisle to address the climate crisis, the widening wealth gap, or global health threats like the new Coronavirus. To compromise on their personal agendas, or set aside their egos, in order to focus on the well-being of humanity and our planet.
Read MoreSince Election Day I have been sitting with the images of resistance my grandfather’s story offers me as it continues to echo across time. The story he told about what happened 78 years earlier gave me an image of resistance I’ve carried with me most of my life. But recently I’ve discovered another story of resistance, one he didn’t tell me when he was alive.
Read MoreIn the headlines, we see someone coming closer to an elected seat of power than he should. Trump doesn’t exist alone, but within systems and values that have lifted him frighteningly close to the highest office in our nation. Trump’s campaign is, sometimes more explicitly than other times, fueled by misogyny, anthropocentrism, capitalism and white supremacy. These systems place folks like him very close to society’s centers of power. This is, in part, because we live in a society that values self-reliance, and competition and touts bootstrap stories as heroic.
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