Lessons and Insights

Jews feel that Western liberalism has abandoned them. This has happened before. This is what the Purim story can teach us.

Haman sounds and looks like the current crop of villains seeking to destroy us. But the similarities run much deeper, and so do the lessons.

There is a thing called nature, and there is a thing called a Jew, and the two have absolutely nothing to do with one another.

Haman was the evil Persian prime minister who schemed to have the Jews killed. He fell before Queen Esther and Mordecai, heroes of the Purim party.

Mordechai was the leader of the Jews and cousin of Queen Esther, his co-hero in the Purim story.

Mordechai was "great ... and accepted by most of his brethren." Why just most? Was it just "politics"?

We were hesitant, but we still put on costumes, took our hamantaschen and knocked at the door.

Logically, fasting was the very last thing Esther should have done! Surely, she should’ve tried to look her very best and make a favorable impression with the drunken, degenerate despot.

A constant state of grief, depression, anxiety or pain is not normal. Telling ourselves that it is can create a situation where we are frozen.

What message can I take from the celebration of Shushan Purim in my beloved Jerusalem, thousands of miles away? Is it my holiday, or am I merely a bystander while Jerusalemites are making merry?

I’ve been doing this Purim thing for a long time, but it still makes no sense to me. Just because “they tried to kill us, but G‑d made a miracle” two and a half thousand years ago, we have to go berserk every year?

Queen Esther, the heroine of the Purim story and one of the greatest Jewish women in history.

While both Purim and Passover commemorate momentous occasions of Divine deliverance, their respective stories are extremely dissimilar.

On the surface the book of Esther reads as a fable of sorts, filled with drama, suspense and a happy ending. However, keeping in mind that it was written under the rulership and scrutiny of the Persian king, care had to be taken to tell the story without offending sensibilities. A secret tradition passed down orally tells the real story.

Known as a month of celebration and happiness, Adar contains the joyous holiday of Purim. But that isn’t the only thing that makes Adar special.

I’m fasting today, but I’ll be feasting tonight.

What is it about Purim that makes everything so dramatic?

How to save her people from the royal decree? She had to visit the king. She knew it to be the only way. But how could she? She hadn’t seen the king in recent days, and who knows what his mood would be?

The first time we're ever called "Jews" is in the Purim story. Were we not Jewish before then? Or perhaps the question is: what's the connection between Purim and Judah?

Strange is it not? A book of the Bible and not even one explicit reference to G‑d? Why is that? Perhaps we can answer this question with another question....

A challenge-free existence creates complacency and lacks depth. But when we turn challenge into an opportunity for growth we become stronger. The festival of Purim has a unique message...

When the artist sets his hands to his craft, he turns his back on perfection, as a warrior turns his back on fear...

We all know madness well--we spend a third of our lives insane

Mordechai comes across as a true 'renaissance man', respected and adored by his people. But the Talmud reveals a little-known fact...

Surely there are other, more refined and more spiritual ways of celebrating and showing joy?

Wasn’t Haman the guy who wanted to wipe us out? Why would we immortalize him by eating cookies that bear his name?

One of the traditions of Purim is dressing up in fancy dress and wearing masks. What is the reason for this custom and how does it connect to the celebration of the day?

Whereas throughout the year alcohol consumption is barely tolerated by Jewish tradition, on Purim, the boundaries fall away. Why the change of policy?

Why do we drink on Purim? As with all Jewish questions, the answer is found on four levels -- the technical, the symbolic, the homiletic and the mystical

What a heroine Vashti was! No? And a disturbing thought suddenly hits me. What about Esther? Was she also "liberated"?

When I was sixteen, I went to Israel for two months and gained about twenty pounds. I had been thin, even skinny, my whole life and never gave my weight a second thought...

Why is Adar such a happy month? Because it is so inauspicious for the Jewish nation!

Can Judaism condone hatred? Or perhaps the question really is -- does a failure to hate evil constitute a tacit approval of its existence?

The Jews were illogical. G-d was illogical. The only one who acted logically was... Haman. No wonder on Purim we try to suspend logic!

Purim, as everyone knows, falls in the month of Adar. Actually, according to the Kabbalists, it's the other way around: Adar rises in Purim...

“They all dress the same, they’re so boring.” The seemingly similarity in their outward appearance forced me to look inside and see each as person for who they really were...

All other holidays are other-worldly experiences. And then there's Purim. Gift giving and feasting. Good food and wine. Very un-transcendent.

On the surface, the Purim story is not the typical background to a Jewish festival. Seas don't split, oil does not burn longer than it should and water does not turn into blood...

Purim doesn't have any blockbuster miracle to celebrate. In the Purim story, things turned out positively, and we chose – we had the consciousness and vision – to see it as a miracle.

Happiness comes with clarity of direction from within, and the ability to give meaning to every situation and experience. Haman could not be happy because his joy was purely external...

Here's a much harder question: Would you help someone else if you weren't even sure that G‑d would appreciate it?

The Jews didn’t back down. They were worried; they prayed, they fasted and they stressed. But their commitment was strong, and they were ultimately saved. Beautiful narrative. But how is that my story?

I have always felt an affinity to Queen Esther from the Purim story. Just like me, she married a non-Jew. And because of it she saved the Jewish people...

Her face smiled but her heart cried. She charmed all, but couldn’t be charmed. She was far away from home, and only she knew just how far. But this was all for a good reason, Mordechai had said. What that good reason was, she knew not, nor when she would...

It could have been the most joyous day of the year. Instead, “Little Purim” is an almost ordinary day, with no special observances associated with it. Almost, but not quite . . .

Esther’s evolution seems to be one of a different nature. Her second name does not, on the surface, bring her closer to G‑d or to her people. It puts her into hiding . . .

I slip into my “just do it!” outfit and wear a smile to a wedding, even though my heart is dull. The garb and the smile carry me into their space and I end up dancing with joy for the bride (or her mom, whose circle I've suddenly become part of!). But I have other masks too, unconscious and less virtuous . . .

The modern day concept is “if you got it, flaunt it.” Show the world what you have to offer, be out there, be public, the more the better. It just isn’t so exciting to be the heroine behind the scenes . . .

When I was with her, my mask was off. And being around the real me was something I realized I don’t get to do very often...

I walked past a bus stop just as a bus pulled over and opened its doors for me. “No, thank you,” I shouted to the driver, “I’m just walking. I don’t want to get on the bus.” “I know,” he replied, “I see you every morning. I just wanted to let you know that you’ve inspired me.”

Before this, I was the kind of person who never lied. I felt that honesty was truth and that I needed to engage in truth, at all costs.I have greater insight now about the issue of concealment . . .

There was a need to seek the truth. What was the truth about our parents' lives? What was it that they were not telling us? What was the hidden reality that they were concealing from us?

Wasted time counts for far more than the present moment, or even our own lifetime. This was Rabbi Akiva's message. A minute could mean a street. Think of Fifth Avenue and the loss becomes tangible...

We all wear masks. And I don’t mean the ones we slip on during Purim. Many of us think that if we could only window-dress certain aspects of ourselves, then doors would be thrown open to us, and success, love and happiness would nip at our heels . . .

This woman is like a bottomless cup of coffee. I give, and she wants more, and I give more, and she’ll want even more. I sincerely do feel badly for her. But I am equally scared to let a person who is in chronic, desperate need become dependent on me . . .

When I was sixteen, I went to Israel for two months and gained about twenty pounds. I had been thin, even skinny, my whole life and never gave my weight a second thought...

They called her names. They wanted her to believe that the thing which made her different from them was terrible. They called her ugly. It would be a lie to say that the words didn’t hurt. Those words did have some power over her. But her mother whispered other words into her ears . . .

Now, are the children or I doing something wrong? Are any of us actually out to trap the other? Are we being un-understanding? Inconsiderate? Lazy? Mean? Obviously not. We simply do not speak the same language . . .

When we are awake, there is order. There is a hierarchy. Not so when we sleep. The powers conceal themselves. They go back to their source where there is no hierarchy...

Purim is a beautiful treasure that teaches us that even when we think that what we do won’t make a difference, it really does...

This was the Purim miracle. Where there had been the disorder of sleep and exile, where evil was able to domineer the good, there was now order. The Jews could overcome their enemies...

It’s not that I support this sneaker-clad, pink-sweatshirt-sporting, exuberant young girl in a despotic vision of absolute control. And it’s not only that I am thinking: Yes, reach for the stars, dream big. It’s just that her claim is simply true . . .

Why does Mordechai insist that Esther risk her life in approaching the king if he knows that there is no danger to the Jewish nation?

G-d hardwired us to see our lives as mundane and contained within the so-called laws of nature, so that we are compelled to search Him out and find purpose, even where it seems there is none, within our personal life journey.

Life’s early trajectory is not always reflective of its future course.