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What makes for the perfect Purim-spiel? Cantor Marnie Camhi, who serves Temple Beth Miriam in Elberon, N.J., has become a bit of an expert.
With a collaborator who wrote a clever script, I took on the role of Haman and joined my fellow actors in singing my lyrics. I also choreographed a couple of numbers, fulfilling my desire...
Reform Jewish poet Stacey Z. Robinson wrote this original poem for Purim, painting a much different picture of Esther than we knew as children.
The possibilities are only limited by imagination, and children’s imaginations are not limited.
Purim festivities don't square with what I know about the harmful side of alcohol: It destroys people’s lives. What message are we sending our children?
As we prepare to celebrate Purim, a festival of merriment and joy, many Jews will be celebrating by reading from the M’gillah (Book of Esther), wearing costumes, giving gifts, and enjoying festive...
Although we may think time moves in a linear fashion, Jewish holidays insert themselves in unexpected moments and places, seemingly out-of-sync with our expectations.
A talking parrot saves the family seder and a moose-musician is eager to host his perfect first Passover meal in a pair of delightful new children's books for the holiday, which this year begins on...
I love the idea that one of the things we try to do on Purim is increase connection and friendship – and sending gift baskets is the perfect way to do that!
At the end of M’gillat Esther, the Jewish people celebrate their survival with merrymaking, feasting, and sending gifts to one another and to the poor. As a result, today’s Purim celebration has...
Purim is a holiday of excesses and extremes. For someone who thrives on control, order, quiet reflection, and decorum, it can be troubling and uncomfortable.
When I was growing up on Long Island, hamantaschen had a golden yeast dough and filling that oozed from the seams. What ever happened to those delicious treats?
Reform Jewish poet Stacey Z. Robinson wrote this original poem for Purim: "I remember when he crooned / Come, dance for me! / And I would / just for him." But then...
We write to you on behalf of an Iranian asylum seeker by the name of Vashti. The circumstances under which she has become a “displaced person” are as follows.
This Purim, we recognize modern-day heroes for their courage, chutzpah, integrity, goodness, and – most of all – for inspiring us all to #BeLikeEsther.
The Purim story not only illustrates the role of women in our ancestral societies, but also highlights how women combated unfair gender expectations.
May the people of Belgium, when a sufficient time of grieving has passed, “enjoy light and gladness, happiness and honor,” like those of Persia long ago.
I must be honest. Purim is not my favorite holiday. Truth is, I was never a big costume person. Probably a therapist’s delight!
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The faces in the photo that hangs in the new synagogue in Bad Segeberg haunt me. They seared themselves into my brain the first time I saw it, and they do not let go.
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Purim is coming, a wild holiday that holds its place alongside Yom Kippur and Passover as a dramatic story in the Hebrew Bible’s accounts of redemption and revelation. But, unlike these other...
Once a year, through burlesque, Jews are given license to deviate from the rules and norms that helped their communities survive in the face of adversity. But ultimately, the disorder associated...
There’s an unavoidable irony inherent in tabling on a college campus for the National Day of Unplugging: namely, the majority of students who ignore me as they pass me by with headphones in their...
On the day before Purim, in the Hebrew month of Adar, Jewish musician Neshama Carlebach posted the following on Facebook:
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On Purim, many people will cross-dress and dress up as someone of a different gender. This year, rethink it.
During the 40 years that I served as a congregational rabbi, Purim evolved from a pleasant celebration into what has become, in my view, almost a third High Holiday.
Cruelty and bloodshed abound in the Bible as, for example, the Pharaoh's ruthless treatment of his Israelite slaves and Moses' vengeful slaying of the Egyptian taskmaster in the Passover story. But...
As a child, Purim was one of my favorite holidays. Costumes, candy, and being allowed – nay, encouraged – to make noise in synagogue: What’s not to love? As a young Jewish girl, there was an extra...
There is one Purim that will always have a special place in my heart. It was a Saturday night, and I suddenly emerged as Elvis Presley, taking the stage for the first time in Charleston, S.C., and...
Most of us are probably all too well familiar with the old canard regarding Jewish holidays: “They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat!” Though the popularity of the formula may have sad...
Growing up, my mother was always very clear with my siblings and me that we should not waste money. It makes sense, then, she did not like to shower us with material goods. Each year on Purim, she...
Get ready to move! Jewish songstress Michelle Citrin, the self-described "lil grrl with a big sound," has a new video out this Purim, and you're going to want to be sure there's a dancefloor nearby...
When in a popular Purim song we sing “Hava narishah-rash, rash, rash,” “Wind your noisemakers,” all that "rashing" does momentarily make the darkness go away. But in what direction do we turn as we...
It was not until I joined my synagogue’s religious education committee that I learned that many American Jews do not celebrate Halloween. From the time I could trick-or-treat, I knew the basics of...
Consequently, these days are recalled and observed in every generation: by every family, every province, and every city. And these days of Purim shall never cease among the Jews, and the memory of...
We laughed so hard - at Cantor Doug Cotler's cleverly funny songs, at Rabbi Julia Weisz's ridiculously hysterical costumes, at my inappropriate yet Purimly-acceptable riffs on Megillat Esther,...
Commemorate this Purim by making community service and "matanot l'evyonim" - gifts the poor - a priority.
This year, we celebrate the beginning of the month of Adar between “Shabbat Shekalim” and the Shabbat when we read the Torah portion “Truma” (donation). Shabbat Shekalim reminds us that each and...
"When Adar enters, joy increases!" So says the wisdom of our tradition (B. Ta'anit 29a.) Why? The simplest answer is that the month of Adar contains the festival of Purim, and Purim is a festival...
A few years ago, I found myself in a bit of a Purim predicament specifically pertaining to the “to tell or not to tell” dilemma regarding Vashti, one of the oft forgotten players in our Purim tale....
It's February, and I take issue with T.S. Eliot. It is not April but February which is the cruelest month. Cold, dark, and brutish, with none of the celebratory feel of December and January, spring...
Purim is almost here! It’s loud, it’s raucous, it’s festive, it’s colorful, and the food is great. It’s no wonder the rabbis of the Talmud saw Purim as such a high point in the calendar that they...
I didn't even know what a palmier was. My friend Barrett mentioned that she had made them for Purim, using Tina Wasserman's recipe. I looked it up...and, oh my, they sounded delicious. Thank...
As a student living in Israel, my holiday celebrations followed the same protocol: dress up in my nicest clothes, go to shul and eat a festive meal with family and friends (as long as it was not a...
In my household, Purim has been the holiday in which I have taken something “traditional” and turned in on its head!
Every story has its music. The story of Esther, told on Purim, has music – the cantillation of the Megillah (scroll of Esther). But every piece of music also has its story. This essay will share...
Purim is just around the corner. Your congregation is making plans for the celebration, whether those plans include a carnival or a spiel, there is a sense of excitement in the air. These...
Last year I did a "Hamantaschen Test Kitchen" with six different varieties:
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Therefore, when the Lord your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of...
On the Shabbat before Purim, many congregations will read Parshat Zachor (Deuteronomy 25:17 - 20). In the three short verses of this parshah, we are commanded not once but twice to...
