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Purim Resources for Congregations to Use
We’re delighted to offer this roundup of digital resources you can share with your community – embed these resources on your website, include in your e-newsletter, or share on social media.
When the Queen Says No
I had been wanting to write about Queen Vashti for a while. A big part of my rabbinate and my writing focuses on uplifting the stories of women in the biblical narrative, especially those who do not get enough attention.
Lessons from Megillat Esther: The Need for Study and Action
When I was a child, I remember saying to my mother about the Purim story, "Maybe Haman wouldn't have done anything if he'd known Queen Esther was Jewish." King Ahasuerus' easily manipulated nature laid the foundations for the story, while Haman's vociferous antisemitism drove the story forward.
Facing the Foolish King: How Queen Esther Vanquished Misinformation
Whispering into the ears of the foolish king, our calculating villain puts his fiendish plan into action. This is the moment he has been waiting for. Nothing less than perfect acceptance can launch his heinous plot.
10 Tips from the Spielberg of Purim Spiels
What makes for the perfect Purim-spiel? Cantor Marnie Camhi, who serves Temple Beth Miriam in Elberon, N.J., has become a bit of an expert.
A Promise is a Promise: Our Purim Fundraiser to Cure Childhood Cancers
A few hours after 8-year-old Sammy Sommer and his parents were told by their amazing doctor in Milwaukee there would be no more treatment for his acute myelogenous leukemia, I met them for French fries at a hot dog stand in Highland Park.
This Purim, Make Noise to Protest Modern-Day Hamans
We know that religious freedom is not a lesson from ancient stories, but an ongoing quest even today. While many of us are fighting antisemitism in our home countries, we are also in solidarity with the Rohingya people, who have been persecuted for decades.
Choosing Your Purim Costume: How to Avoid Cultural Appropriation, Stereotypes, and Racism
Purim approaches, and like every other holiday we've observed during the pandemic, it will look and be different.
When You Make People Laugh, You Make People Listen
Today, comedy is a national vernacular, a social and cultural force. We communicate in memes. We look to late night to process the news. Good (and even dumb) comedy challenges and connects, activates and affirms.
Galilee Diary: Remembering Amalek
Haman, according to the Scroll of Esther, was a member of the tribe of Amalek. Thus, we learn the consequences of disregarding the Torah commandment to wipe out the memory of Amalek - as long as they are allowed to continue to exist, they remain a threat, the enemy who for no rational reason constantly plots our destruction. And we read the above passage on the Shabbat before Purim every year,