Written by Rabbanit Esti Rosenberg

Translated by Leah Hartman

With the consent of G-d and with the consent of the congregation, we are permitted to rejoice, Purim is permitted to enter and to be, to enter through the gates, to answer the Beloved Who is knocking. And all the wounded and the captives, the kidnapped and the fallen, the injured and the soldiers, from last Purim until this Purim, they stand before me and I ask them, to grant me permission with loving-kindness, with mercy, permission and obligation.

And like the permission to prayer composed by the liturgists of Spain and Germany, I ask permission– permission to rejoice, even permission to laugh; permission to no longer distinguish between “cursed be Haman” and “blessed be Mordechai”; permission to give thanks with a broken heart; permission to come before the Royal Throne dressed in sackcloth and ashes, and to cry out a great and bitter cry, to hear the music and cleanse the heart as if there were no war in the world at all.

Permission from the fallen, from the widows and the orphans, permission from the bereaved parents, the brothers and sisters, the brothers and sisters-in-laws. Permission from the wounded and the kidnapped, from the families in Hostages Square, and from the worried heart.

Permission from the displaced of Kiryat Shmona and the survivors of Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Nir Oz, from the residents of the Gaza envelope and from those under bombs in the North. Permission from the tired soldiers, from the fighters of Khan Younis and Rafah, from the female soldiers of the Intelligence unit. Permission to give strength and to be strengthened, to pray for miracles and wonders in these days at this time, permission to simply be together in joy, permission to gather and dance, even if you don't join me, and even if the song and the laughter doesn’t always fit.

And with me, Esther and Mordecai, the miracle and the king, the royal garb and the turning-over of control, we promise and we assure you that we are not escaping from all the Jews-- into the king's palace - that we will gather together and cry out, that we will not be silenced and we won’t be quiet until it is overturned.

Everything is permitted to you, for you everything is allowed, here there is neither forgetting nor prohibition. Just as we are permitted in the court below, so should we be permitted in the court Above.

I hereby declare before you that all our dancing will be for good, for prayer, for crying out, for the longing for the revelation of the Divine Presence, for salvation and comfort.

For the people of Israel and the Redemption of Israel.