Masks on Purim – Ask the Rabbi
Q. How can you wear a mask on Purim and pretend to be someone else?
A. We move in and out of different worlds and roles all the time.
The Rebbe of Lubavitch says that every Jew alternates between Jacob and Esau – one moment the studious yeshivah bachur living amongst his books; the next minute is a sportsman, hunting, shooting and fishing in the fresh air. “The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are the hands are the hands of Esau” (Gen. 27:22).
The world needs both, but Judaism prefers Jacob and is comforted by the thought that when Jacob puts on his Esau mask he knows it’s a pretence and that Esau can never be his real self.
