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 [...]
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. This kinetic approach to [...]
Keter – Malchut
Purim 2019 / 5779 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Based on R. YYYY Safrin of Komara’s Commentary on Esther called Ketem Ofier (4:1 – 5:4) Mordecai charges Esther to go before the king, and plead for her [...]
From Eden to Purim: Simcha shel Mitzvah
Purim 2018 / 5778 Sarah Yehudit Schneider The Talmud asks: “Why did the Jews of that generation deserve extermination? Because they derived pleasure [נהנו] from the feast of that wicked one [...]
When the Body Gives Light to the Soul
Purim, 5777 / 2017 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Based on the teachings of R. Tsadok HaKohen[1] “To the Jews there was light—אורה…” (the feminine form of the word indicating the Oral Torah, as opposed [...]
Masters of the Saf — Purim 2015 / 5775
In those days, when Mordekhai sat by the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, Guardians of the Saf (Threshold), were angry, and sought to lay hand on king Ahasuerus. [...]
Esther, the Mistress of Prayer
PurimBurst 2012 / 5772 Sarah Yehudit Schneider HaShem said to Israel: “When the Temple was destroyed you cried out, ‘We are orphans. Our father has abandoned us…’ (Lam. 5:3). As sure as you live, [...]
Amalek is a Branch of Our Family Tree
PurimBurst, 2011/ תשע”א by Sarah Yehudit Schneider1 The descendents of Haman study Torah in Benei Brak, and R. Shmuel bar Shilat is [is the most illustrious] among them.2 (TB San. 96b [Ein [...]
The Power of a Good Eye
PurimBurst, 2009 / 5569 Sarah Yehudit Schneider 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) [...]
If Your Enemy is Hungry Give Him Bread
PurimBurst 2008 (based on Pri Tsadik, Ohev Yisrael and Heichal HaBrocha) Sarah Yehudit Schneider “Let the king and Haman come to the banquet.” The Talmud asks, “Why did Esther honor Haman with an [...]
The Book of Esther is a Map of Feminine Development
PurimBurst, 2007 / 5567 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Based on the teachings of R. Isaac Luria as presented in Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine.[1] “This opposite this [...]
Anger Drives the Plot
PurimBurst, 2006 / 5566 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command…and the king was very angry, and his anger burned in him…And Memucan answered,…”Vashti, the [...]
A Time for Silence, A Time for Speech
PurimBurst, 2005 / 5565 Sarah Yehudit Schneider When Mordecai conveyed to Esther… “If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall come to the Jews from another place, and you and [...]
I Am the First, I Am the Last
PurimBurst, 2004 / 5564 Sarah Yehudit Schneider And [Mordecai] brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter; for she had neither father nor mother. (Esther 2:7) וַיְהִי [...]
Torah of Souls
PurimBurst, 2003 / תשס”ג Sarah Yehudit Schneider Then the King conferred with His sages (חכמים), experts in reading the times, for such was the King’s practice, to consult with the masters [...]
Mesirut Nefesh and Oral Torah
PurimBurst, 2002 / 5762 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Inspired by R. Tsadok HaKohen, Pri Tsadik, Adar [ו]; R. R. M. Luria, Ora v’Simcha, (p. 97-99) Letters were sent…to all the kings provinces…to [...]
How to Identify the Crown Princess
PurimBurst, 2001 / 5761 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Inspired by R. Tsadok HaKohen (רסיסי לילה לב, נב) And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she won his grace and favor more [...]
The Cosmic, Seven Millenia Wine Party
PurimBurst, 2000 / 5760 Sarah Yehudit Schneider And it was in the days of Achashverosh…when the king sought to display the richness of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent [...]
Knowing that You Don’t Know
PurimBurst, 1999 / 5659 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Many of the peoples of the land became Jewish, for the fear of the Jews was upon them…the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, though [...]
Manna and Haman
PurimBurst, 1998 / 5758 Sarah Yehudit Schneider In the same way that a prophet reads the secrets that lie in the cracks and crevices of the souls of Israel [both their failings and their glories] [...]
Haman as Archetype of Narcissism
PurimBurst, 1997 / 5757 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him… [...]
Amalek At The Crossroads
PurimBurst, 1996 / 5756 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Remember, HaShem, the offspring of Edom…the ones who say [about Jerusalem], “Destroy, Destroy to its very foundation”…Praiseworthy is [...]
The Service of Purim IS Lots
PurimBurst, 1995 / 5755 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Why is this holiday called Purim? Why is it called after the lots cast by Haman to determine how best to kill the Jews.[1] All other festivals [...]
The Blessings and the Curse
PurimBurst, 1994 / 5754 Sarah Yehudit Schneider There is a real place that exists right now, on an inner plane, in the mind’s eye of the Creator, where Israel is a righteous nation, and every Jew [...]
Haman and the Tree of Knowledge
PurimBurst, 1993 / 5753 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Sin fragments consciousness, and narrows it. It tunnels vision and disrupts the passage from inner beauty to outer form. Any act whose intention [...]