Be a pane (No, not that kind!)

Last week I attended a virtual thank you for our heroes. The first responders, the doctors, and the unsung heroes who have tended to the community over the past year.

A psychologist spoke and told people to feel; feel the pain! He went on to explain how on Passover one may not swallow the marror, bitter herb, whole to avoid feeling the heat and the pain, one must chew it and feel the pain! Experiencing the pain in its fullness will bring growth. In psychology, this is known as post-traumatic growth.

When we successfully experience post-traumatic growth, it means we become a pane, a transparent conduit for divinity. We stop obscuring the divine energy that is flowing through us. In Chassidic terminology it is called bittul.

This is how on Purim we can get to the level of "besumi" (usually translated as inebriation but probably better translated as transcendence), where we are just a conduit representing G-d without obscuring the light.

Purim is tonight. Purim conjures up images of masks as we dress up. This year Purim also conjures up another type of mask, as we mark the one-year anniversary of the start of Covid.
The Baal Shem Tov taught us to learn a lesson in the service of Hashem from everything we see. How much more so when the connection is so obvious: Masks=Masks!

While Covid has been a challenge and has required us to put on our masks, this has also been an opportunity to remove our masks. We've been able to see beneath the surface as we've spent more time than ever before with loved ones. More time alone with ourselves. More time out of the normal output and to revisit what is really underneath our surface and the surface of our lives. Yes, Covid reminds us to be a pane.

The masks of Purim are designed to do the same. Being a pane means that we experience the world and our uniqueness while not obscuring the divine. The story of Purim is a mask that allows us to experience G-d in our world through our human senses. It's not a sea-splitting miracle or manna from Heaven. It's designed to be a challenge for us to navigate who we are as human beings on the surface and our internal inherent relationship to Hashem and the purpose for which we were created.

So feel your pain and be a pane. Choose the mask to be a pane and not a pain. A pane into our inner self and G-d's inner workings.

What does the mask say to you? What lies underneath your mask?

Happy Purim and Good Shabbos!
Rabbi Kushi Schusterman