Aliya LaRegel on Purim

While some people reported being able to get through to Jerusalem today to celebrate Shushan Purim there, most people trying have not been able to get through. The roadblocks have caused tremendous traffic jams on all roads leading to Jerusalem. We tried earlier and Waze took us through some extremely roundabout route and we still got turned around as we got to a roadblock relatively near to Jerusalem.

We only saw a couple of people walking by foot on our route, but reports are coming in from some of the other more mainstream routes that hundreds of people are walking alongside the highways in order to be able to celebrate Shushan Purim with their relatives and communities.

Seeing some of the pictures and videos on Twitter made me think of what "aliyah laregel" must have looked like, in some way.

Though, as admirable as their dedication is, I wonder how important celebrating Shushan Purim with their families in Jerusalem really is that they put themselves and even children in danger walking alongside a busy highway. Unless maybe the roads are empty because of the roadblocks and there is no danger, but that does not seem to be the case. The only time there is a mitzva of aliya laregel is Pesach, Shvuos, and Sukkos - not Purim. Being so desperate to get to Jerusalem to celebrate Shushan Purim, when it isnt even a holiday for them (because they all live outside of Jerusalem) seems weird to me.

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