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Some of you have heard me quote the keenly missed HBO series “Six Feet Under” before.  It hardly matters that the last episode aired nearly twenty years ago!  For those of us who loved it, its explorations of love and loss, racial and sexual identity, redemption and growth, missed opportunities and fulfillment feel, well… timeless.

There is one scene in particular that will always have my heart.  The family is sitting down to dinner and the middle son, now a father to his own children, speaks these words as part of their grace before meals.  “We thank you God for the love we feel for each other, even when it’s hard.  Especially when it’s hard.”

I thought of these words again this week when we learned the news of the detention and possible deportation of Mahmoud Khalil – a leader of Columbia University’s demonstrations.  Too often such demonstrations protesting Israel’s war with Hamas led to targeting Jews.  From college campuses to the public square, from workplaces to schools, anti-Semitism once again showed itself to be the scourge it has always been.  Jews attending classes, gathering for holidays, deliberating about wearing a visible Jewish star and simply attempting to live life on life’s terms have been harassed, shouted down or attacked outright.  It would be so much easier to close our minds and hearts to everything happening around us that doesn’t have to do with us, and with all that has happened to us in the last year and a half.

And yet.  We cannot turn a blind eye to due process, or to the rights of those we vehemently disagree with to a proper defense.  My Rabbinic Organization, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, has it exactly right in its statement of March 12: “We must be wary of the danger of trampling on civil liberties and tarnishing the transparent justice system that is a hallmark of our nation.  Jewish safety and the nation’s greatness – past, present, and future – depend on it. We weaken them at our peril.”

Indeed, American Jews have long been at the forefront of the struggles and principles, such as the Labor Movement, Civil Rights and Feminism, that have moved this world forward.  We must not stop now, even when it’s hard.  Especially when it’s hard.

Va’yinafoch hu, the story of Purim teaches us.  It’s an upside-down world, filled with reversals and blurred boundaries.  Let’s lighten our souls tonight with happiness and joy, gladness and honor (Esther 8:16) as we celebrate Shabbat and Purim together.  There is still so much goodness to recognize and appreciate in our holidays, our community, our tradition.  Even, and yes… especially when it’s hard.

Shabbat Shalom, and Purim Sameach!