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Esther and Vashti: Strong Women with Modern Problems
While I don’t have much experience studying Torah or examining each week’s parsha, I try to pay special attention to the stories that I loved as a child. Each year, based on where I am in my life, I...
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More To Purim Than Cookies
I have an interesting relationship with Purim. As a young boy, I was a great lover of the holiday, with its attendant delicacies. Purim fairs at my temple were always fun, as was the packaging of...
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Purim and Giving
Fun costumes, drinking (for those who drink), delicious hamentaschen, Haman (booo!), Esther and Mordecai, another tale of Jewish persecution and redemption: these are the first thoughts that come to...
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Capital Punishment on Purim?
Purim, on the one hand, is an easy holiday to love. There are costumes, hamentashen, a fun story and songs; we are obligated to have a good time. On the other hand, Purim is also controversial—and one...
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Substance Abuse: Keeping it in Check on Purim
As many well know, the Talmud tells us that “a person has to get drunk on Purim until he cannot distinguish between ‘cursed is Haman’ and ‘blessed is Mordechai’” (Megillah 7b). To do so is a mitzvah,...
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This Fast of Esther, I’m Fasting for Immigration Reform
As an observant Jew, I, along with so many people in the Jewish community will spend today fasting and reflecting on the bravery of Queen Esther and the Jews in the Persian Empire. At that time, they...
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On Purim, Thinking of Vashti and Esther
This post originally appeared at WRJblog. In just a couple of days (Saturday, March 15 – Sunday March 16/14-15 Adar) we will be celebrating Purim, a holiday full of good food, costumes, and fun. In...
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The Fast That I Desire: Honoring Esther, Seeking Justice
By Rabbi Seth Limmer Our world has not been perfect for quite a long time. In every age, our people have struggled to act in ways that can bring our world as-it-is ever closer to the world we know...
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Unmasking the Use of the Death Penalty
Though Purim is a time to for costumes, carnivals and hamentaschen, the story also prompts big questions, like the use of the death penalty in our society. At the end of the Purim story, we see the...
View ArticleCelebrate Purim with the Green Adar Challenge: Eco-Mishloach Manot!
Welcome to the Jewish Month of Adar! This month in the Jewish year we celebrate Purim by reading Megillat Esther, dressing up in costumes and sending our friends and families mishloach manot gift...
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Purim as a Call to Action to End Economic Inequality
I have always loved Purim. I remember eating hamentaschen in my religious school classes (deciding amongst the apricot, poppyseed, chocolate or strawberry flavors), playing bean bag toss at the Purim...
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For Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals, Gender Expression isn’t a...
Jews across the world are getting ready to celebrate Purim. Already, there are many Jews, from young children to grown adults, planning their Purim outfits. Some will be characters from the Purim...
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On Purim, Exploring the Intersections of Reproductive Justice and Criminal...
On Purim, we celebrate a time of transition for the Jews, from “grief to joy and from mourning to a festive day—to make them days of feasting and joy, and sending portions one to another, and gifts to...
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