Tag: queen esther

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?

Based on the teachings of R. Isaac Luria as presented in Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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."

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…

PurimBurst 2000/5760. 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 majesty, that he hosted a seven day long wine party.…

PurimBurst 1999/5659. A burning issue is how to uncompromisingly devote oneself to truth, and yet share space with those who adamantly assert a conflicting truth, and even a false one.

Each life’s journey is filled with crossroads that rarely have signs to mark G‑d’s way. Each person must find the G‑d–serving truth that applies to this unique circumstance and this moment in time.

PurimBurst 1997 / 5757 In our generation the war with Amalek is an inner war, and Haman’s is the voice of our narcissism. 

PurimBurst 1996/5756. Whenever Israel is about to access a new revelation of Torah, Amalek comes to sabotage the event. His murderous intentions always terrify, and always backfire.

Why is this holiday called Purim?  Why is it called after the lots cast by Haman to determine how best to kill the Jews.

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 a perfect tsadik.

Every “thing” and moment, both ancient and modern, has its source in the Torah.  The sages ask, “What is Haman’s root in Scripture?”

PurimBurst 1992. Lots (purim) are our primary means of accessing pure Divine influence, of evoking guidance untainted by personal attachments and preconceptions.