Hashivenu: A Podcast on Resilience
In this episode: Judith Rosenbaum reflects on the #metoo movement and the book of Esther.
Purim
Purim, falling on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar, revolves around the biblical book of Esther and its farcical story of the threatened genocide and eventual salvation of the Jews. The festivities surrounding Purim are the most outlandish and whimsical of the Jewish calendar. Most Jews associate Purim with costumes and carnivals, graggers (noisemakers) and hamantashen (three-cornered, filled cookies that evoke the three-cornered hat of Haman) that appeal to children. But it would be wrong to dismiss Purim as a holiday only for children. Whether considering the deeper messages of the Megillah, the scroll containing the Book of Esther, or joining in the self-mocking atmosphere of a Purim shpiel, a satirical skit or short play, adults deserve to celebrate and enjoy Purim.1
- 1. Adapted from A Guide to Jewish Practice, Volume 2—Shabbat and Holidays. The Guide may be ordered from the Reconstructionist Press.
More Purim Resources
Righting a World Turned Upside Down
Purim 2020 was the last in-person event celebrated by many Jewish communities around the country before the COVID-19 shutdown. Little did we understand that the essential psychological principle of Purim of hafichut – the reversibility of our world – would come to mean something even more profound than what we had come to expect.
Posted on February 26, 2021 by
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D'var Torah
Amalek: Out There, or In Here? A Text Study for Shabbat Zakhor
On the Shabbat before Purim, we read the commandment to “wipe out the memory of Amalek…do not forget!” But is Amalek an external enemy — or something inside us and our society?
Posted on February 19, 2021 by
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Purim teaches the dangers of accepting a single, simplistic story about others. As we uncover our own complicated selves this holiday, let us be willing to open to the complicated and nuanced stories around us.
Posted on March 6, 2020 by
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Four Lessons We Learn From Purim
Rabbi Elliott Tepperman shares four lessons for today that we can draw from the holiday of Purim.
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The Torah commands us to “wipe out the memory of Amalek…do not forget!” (Deut. 25) But is Amalek an external enemy—or something inside us?
Posted on November 17, 2016 by
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Document
Remembering Amalek
The Torah commands us to “wipe out the memory of Amalek…do not forget!” (Deut. 25) What exactly does “Amalek” represent, and what might it mean to remember (or blot out) that memory?
Posted on November 17, 2016 by
Rabbi
Toba Spitzer
Document
She Said No!
This song, based on the Book of Esther, praises Vashti and Esther for their challenges to the king.
Posted on April 15, 2016 by
Rabbi
Geela Rayzel Raphael
Music
