This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. Shul was packed last Shabbos – not because of a bar mitzvah or aufruf, but because on the last Shabbos before Purim, Shabbat Zachor, we read the short passage that commands us to ‘erase’ our bitter enemy – the people of Amalek whose most famous descendant was…
Purim is one of the more peculiar days of Jewish revelry; it is characterized by palace intrigue — jockeying for power, betrayal and sexual trickery — and hails Jewish victory over an avowed enemy. Laced with irony, the Book of Esther, also known as the Megillah, recounts the story of the Jews of Shushan in…
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — The Netherlands’ main Jewish weekly is the kingdom’s oldest commercial magazine and one of its most reputable publications. Which is why many Dutch were shocked to read a column Tuesday by its editor announcing that she is leaving for Israel because of rising anti-Semitism here. “I am leaving for the only country where…
Myth 1: Esther entered a royal beauty pageant to audition to be the queen Let’s look at what the Megillah actually says – “When the king’s order and edict was proclaimed, and when many girls were assembled in the royal province of Shushan under the supervision of Hegai, Esther too was taken into the king’s palace…
For word nerds, the Book of Esther contains a special treat — the longest word in the Tanakh. Technically, v’ha’achshadrapanim and its eleven letters makes it the length champion of the entire Hebrew Bible. It means “and the satraps” or “and the governors of the provinces of the Persian Empire,” and it comes near the…
Somehow, a teenager wearing blackface got into the Purim party. That much was obvious to the black Jewish woman who pointed him out to the organizers of the party, hosted by Chabad-Lubavitch of South La Cienaga, a Jewish community center in Los Angeles. Despite the fact that his face was completely covered in black makeup,…
Purim is the holiday to beat all holidays. Excessive drinking! Tinsel-y decorations! Thematic cookies, objects that exist just to make noise, a steamy backstory about a female role model, and, of course, costumes. We’re far from the season when Sexy Plumber outfits can be purchased off the side of the road, plus who the hell…
Awkwardly closed a web page, like a teenager whose parent is hovering, at the sight of the unexpected search results to “Adult alien costume.” Seriously, when did extra-terrestrial become a fetish? Argued with a tiny human to try to convince them they really want to be part of the family dressing up theme. I know…
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