Letter to the editor: How is God asking you to help?

OPINION:

Today is Purim, the Jewish holiday that commemorates the events of the Book of Esther. It is one of the most dramatic stories in the Bible.

At first glance, it looks like a tragedy waiting to unfold: an evil decree, a threatened people, a future sealed in darkness. Yet Purim teaches a truth we all need today: We never know the end of the story until it’s truly over.

In the Book of Esther, what seemed certain destruction became redemption because Esther and Mordecai refused to despair. They acted with courage, and because they did, the story ended in light.

At the center of Purim stands one word: hineni, “Here I am.” Esther never asked to be queen. She was young, afraid and placed in a position she didn’t choose. Yet when Mordecai told her, “You were brought to the kingdom for such a time as this,” she understood she had a role to play. She could hide, or she could step forward. Her hineni changed history.

Living in Israel these past years has made this message deeply real for me. We face constant uncertainty: threats from Iran, the possibility of further war, questions without answers. After the terrible terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, staff and volunteers from my organization, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, could have stayed their bomb shelters.

We didn’t. We went into war zones, delivered aid to families who had lost everything, comforted survivors, supported soldiers. We did it because we knew we had been placed in those moments for a reason.

Purim reminds us that even when everything looks bleak, God is still writing the story. The ending is not yet written. Each of us has a neighbor to visit, a parent to call, a kindness to offer, a step outside our comfort zone.

Not everyone is Esther, but everyone can bring light. Everyone can say hineni in their own way.

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YAEL ECKSTEIN

President and global CEO, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

Modi’in, Israel