The Masks We Wear

 Dear Friends,


Sorry to disappoint you but there will be no song lyrics in this blog:-)

I want to talk about masks.  

Recently, I  was giving a presentation at a local retirement facility about the masks we wear and how we celebrate a day on which we wear masks and go trick or treating.   I talked about the day on which Jewish people wear masks, which is our holiday of Purim.  Please do a search and learn more about this holiday in the Jewish calendar.

We had a discussion about the reference to Yom Kippur as Yom Kippurim, a day like Purim where we also wear masks including wearing the mask of being a pious person who sincerely wants to be forgiven  How many of us are sincere in our desire to be forgiven and how many of us are only wearing a mask?

Our discussion included asking the residents to talk about the masks they wear.  One of the residents emotionally described how she wore a "polite" mask and never told people how she felt.  As she described this, it was revealing to hear the price she had paid by putting on a "polite" face.  

It made me wonder whether we put on masks in order to fit in and how many of us are in touch with our authentic selves.

My take away from this session is based upon a meeting I had with the founder of the Reconstructionist movement in Judaism, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, of blessed memory, who told me the most important possession I would have as a rabbi, would be my integrity.

May our celebration of Halloween yesterday encourage us to take off our masks and be our authentic selves, bringing integrity to all our endeavors.  It might be a treat to not have to trick anyone by wearing masks that don't really reveal our true selves.

Finally, I conclude with a four letter word...please be sure to VOTE.

Shalom, Salaam, Peace,

Rabbi Bruce Aft





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