Friday
Mar222019
Entries in Purim (35)
March 22, 2019Friday
Mar222019
The Rebbe “Interviews” The Child Starring as Haman in a Purim Shpiel
There is a prevalent practice in many places that children perform a “Purim shpiel” in which the entire story of the Megilla is staged. In it, an actor plays the role of Mordechai, Ester, Charovona, etc. The play requires an actor to fill the role of “Haman” as well.
Friday
Mar222019
ALONE AT THE GATES OF GEULA
Who even thinks of Ester’s ongoing suffering? Ester is a tragic figure of private suffering, so unique in her role and destiny that no one even cries for her… * Like Mordechai HaTzaddik, the Rebbe sits at the Gates of Geula, clothed in sackcloth, his face streaming tears. He protests the endless exile and screams “ad masai?!”
Friday
Mar152019
THE MISNOMER OF “TOXIC MASCULINITY”
Terms like “toxic masculinity” are so damaging because they ascribe qualities to masculinity that have nothing to do with it. A bully, for example, is not expressing masculinity at all. Someone who picks on someone weaker feels a lack of pride and self-worth, and seeks to elevate himself by putting others down. So the bully is actually behaving in a needy, effeminate way.
Friday
Mar152019
THE DECREE THAT WAS (NOT) ABOLISHED
It was an old custom in Jewish communities to perform a “Purim shpiel” on Purim. A “Purim Rav” was appointed, along with judges, guards, leaders and enemies of Israel at that time. In the performance, they would abolish decrees and add an abundance of good for the Jews.
Thursday
Feb072019
JUST TO BE A PART OF IT
I don’t suppose we need more reasons why the exile would be postponed. Exile doesn’t need another advocate, but consider this logic: The only reason why G-d, the ultimate ohev Yisroel, would prolong this bitter exile, is to provide more opportunity for Jews to merit being part of the whole process of redemption
Tuesday
Feb272018
THE PURIM STORY ONLY REVEALED RETROACTIVELY
The sequence of the events and how they all interconnect - together comprising the story of the miracle, resulting in the salvation and redemption of the Jewish people - is discernable only in reading the Megilla, as the Megilla weaves together only the relevant events that contributed to the Purim redemption.
Tuesday
Feb202018
MIRACLES IN THE GUISE OF NATURE
In venerating the dictates of the natural order, the Jewish people brought themselves into the constraints of the circumstances of nature, manifest in the treatment they received from the wicked Achashverosh
Tuesday
Feb132018
HOW THE MEGILLA IS READ IN A VILLAGE, CITY, OR WALLED CITY
The Megilla may be read on one of several days (“the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, or 15th” of Adar ––Megilla 2a) depending upon one’s place of residence, be it a walled city (15th), an unwalled large city (14th), or a village (11th, 12th, or 13th). The following is a discussion of the spiritual significance of these three categories, as well as how they apply in avodas Hashem, the service of G-d
Wednesday
Jan312018
WHY THE MEGILLA IS NAMED AFTER ESTER
The Megilla is named after Ester , “Megillas Ester.” It isn’t called “Megillas Mordechai,” and not even “Megillas Ester and Mordechai,” but “Megillas Ester” – Ester exclusively
Wednesday
Mar082017
TO BRING MOSHIACH WITH HUMOR TOO
“After a performance at a jail, one of the inmates who is behind bars for a series of thefts came over to me and said, ‘I admire you. At home I have all your CD’s, the videos, books, and also all your silver and gold items …’”
Tuesday
Mar072017
COSTUMES – NOT ONLY ON PURIM
As Purim approaches, a time when people have the custom to dress up in costume, we spoke with Rabbi Yoni Fein, who lectures on chinuch topics and is a veteran educator, NLP practitioner and psychotherapist, to learn about the masks children wear, and not only on Purim. * When is a costume not a good thing? When is it a red flag? How should we respond to costumes and what should we do when a child does not want to dress up?
Tuesday
Mar072017
GALUS IS JUST A COSTUME
All my friends are already preparing their costumes for the contest at the school’s Purim party. I am still deciding. To be more precise, I am still looking for what to dress up as. What is the problem, you wonder? Do I lack ideas for costumes?