Purim 😍 This photo was taken last year on Purim when I only celebrated High Holy Days. I didn’t know the meaning of Purim, just that kids dressed up and adults got drunk. All of our Holidays remind me of our physical survival but also of the survival of our traditions! I know I’m not the only Jew who grew up mostly uninterested in fighting assimilation. You are not alone! Religious persecution in Russia, genocide in Poland, and the pressure to assimilate in America brought me into the world uninterested in honoring (there are many ways to honor victims of pogroms, but today I am referencing the idea of honoring Jews by observing Judaism) my family members who were murdered for being Jews. Today I think of Queen Esther and also of my great-grandmother Esther who observed Shabbat, kept a kosher home, and loved her children so deeply that her son (my grandpa), 80 years later, still sings the Yiddish songs she would sing and can recall the excitement of waiting to see 3 stars in the sky on Saturday evening. Martyrs like Esther Ayzenberg took time to not only observe Judaism in their own life, but to put genuine effort in instilling strong Jewish values in their children in hopes that their grandchildren and great grandchildren would observe similarly. Hitler collected stolen Judaica in hopes to set up Jewish museums post-Holocaust. He wanted to teach future generations about a dead race, about a tribe that no longer exists. My miracle is my physical life but it is also my FREEDOM to begin observing Shabbat, studying Torah, and learning Hebrew. I am a healthy young man with the exact opportunity that millions like my family did not: the ability to teach Torah to my children and grandchildren. PS. I know that there are many examples of Jews who died in pogroms that were not observant or religious in anyway. It is important to honor and remember all Jews, observant or not, who have perished during our long, painful, and beautiful history. Today I offer the explanation as to why I am making the active choice to observe Judaism after a life of being encircled in Jewish secularism. The point is — it’s NEVER too late to find the beauty in upholding family traditions.