Category: Purim
DIALOGUE WITH DESTINY<span style="font-size: 12pt;">(reprint)</span>
The Midrash on Esther presents free will and determinism as the central theme of our Purim tale.
Post October 7th: Zohar on the “Three Cries” as a Model of Trauma
There are a million ways to make space for new light. But sometimes the light coming through is just bigger than who we are in the present. The Zohar characterizes that tribulation as a serpent shedding its skin.
Post October 7th: Anger Drives the Plot
Survival has required us to perfect the capacity to transform the intensely concentrated lights that scatter like shrapnel from anger’s discharge; to digest these pellets, extract their nutrients, and convert their death-wish into life juice.
Purim 2021: Who is Charvonah…
Charvonah is a seemingly insignificant character in the Purim story. He is one of the king’s attendants who appears at the beginning with those who convey the kings fateful summons to Vashti and then again at Haman’s demise. It is here, in this second mention, that he delivers his single line:
Turning Noga into Chashmal
Chashmal thus becomes the codeword for embracing paradox by skirting back and forth between opposing perspectives and admitting the truth that’s present in each.
Keter – Malchut
The feminine’s teshuva journey is thus the polar opposite of her male counterpart. Whereas the masculine strives for ego-transcendence, the feminine cultivates holy selfhood.
From Eden to Purim: Simcha shel Mitzvah
Purim 2018 / 5778 To succeed in our mission we must become connoisseurs of pleasure. That was our failing, and it remains our front of tikun.
When the Body Gives Light to the Soul
Purim, 5777 / 2017 R. Tsadok HaKohen broadens the definition of Oral Torah and it’s not at all surprising that Esther was our trailblazer.
Topsy-Turvy Gluon Dance: Purim 2016 /5776
Relationship is a dynamic endeavor for it combines two contradictory poles—merging and differentiating—that are both essential to its survival.
Masters of the Saf: Purim 2015 / 5775
The only thing that will make us happy is to finally become whole, which cannot happen without facing our shadow and processing its unseemly content.
Remember Amalek…Don’t Forget
PurimBurst 2014 Who is this Amalek that three of our 613 mitzvot revolve around him? How do we “remember to eliminate the memory" while also never forgetting it?
Esther, the Mistress of Prayer
Not all supplications are the same. Some are mighty and pierce to the core, while others reach only the lower heavens and get processed there.
Amalek is a Branch of Our Family Tree
A synchronicity of courage, grace and circumstance converge to produce a hero who turns his or her soul-wound into a mission of helping others and changing the world for good.
The Obligation (on Purim) of Inebriation
PurimBurst 2010 / 5770.
One is obligated to drink on Purim until you don’t know the difference between cursing Haman and blessing Mordekhai.
The Power of a Good Eye
PurimBurst 2009. Esther inspired affection in the eyes of all who saw her… (Megillat Esther 2:15). What was the secret of Esther’s extraordinary (even supernatural) grace?
If Your Enemy is Hungry Give Him Bread
“Let the king and Haman come this day to the wine banquet that I have prepared for him.”
The Book of Esther is a Map of Feminine Development
Based on the teachings of R. Isaac Luria as presented in Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine.
Anger Drives the Plot
Every moment is a story, and every story has a motor that propels its forward motion. In the Book of Esther, rage drives each stage of the plot.
A Time for Silence, A Time for Speech
Since the genocidal decree would not take effect for close to a year, it did not justify a life-threatening exploit. Yet Mordekhai insisted that Esther go now, unbidden.
I Am the First, I Am the Last
The Book of Esther is an historical narrative, that occurred between the years 367 - 357 BCE. Yet there are moments in time that are nearly transparent.
Torah of Souls
PurimBurst 2003. Then the King conferred with His sages, experts in reading the times, for such was the King’s practice, to consult with the masters of law and judgment…
Mesirut Nefesh and Oral Torah
Mordekhai replied, “If you persist in keeping silent at this time relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from some other place while you and your father’s house will perish."
How to Identify the Crown Princess
PurimBurst 2001 / 5761. And the king loved Esther more than all the other women... so that he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen…
Holiday Teachings