By Shelley Neese Purim is the holiday when Jews (and many Christians) remember the story of Esther. Esther was an ordinary Jewish girl who became Queen of the Persian Empire. God placed Esther in the right place at the right time. When the evil Haman issued a plan for all the Jews in the Empire…
By Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post— As Israel takes its first tentative steps back toward normalcy in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, this weekend’s festival of Purim could not be more fortuitous. After the death and despair, the lows and the lockdowns of the past year, when our lives were upended in ways we could…
Imagine yourself, a young student, embarking on an exciting opportunity to connect your faith, your studies, and your future to the land and people who are the incubators of God’s plan. Imagine your vantage point in Jerusalem, in a location secured by a people dedicated to education. Hebrew University on Jerusalem’s main campus is atop…
By Ilan Berman, Al-Hurra Digital— Earlier this month, Israel’s intelligence community took the unprecedented step of publicly airing its most recent assessment of Iran’s nuclear progress. Iranian investments in atomic development are today at a “low point” as a result of U.S. and Israeli pressure, Major General Tamir Heiman, the head of Israeli military intelligence,…
By Amy Zewe— Antisemitism takes form in many ways within the many folds of society. You may have noticed I have been concentrating on college campus happenings for a while now. The reason is because the dissemination of antisemitism into the greater community—into our halls of government, offices of associations and businesses, and even…
By Richard Kemp, Gatestone Institute— Yet again we approach the depths of the annual Jew Hate Week around the world. Its organizers know better than to call it what it is. They brand their hatefest “Israel Apartheid Week”, but their true meaning and purpose is blindingly obvious. Since its early festerings in Toronto in 2005,…
By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative”, Ettinger Report— 1. Purim’s historical background. The 586 BCE destruction of the 1st Jewish Temple and the expulsion of Jews from Judea and Samaria – by the Babylonian Emperor, Nebuchadnezzar – triggered a wave of Jewish emigration to Babylon and Persia. The latter replaced Babylon…
By Inna Rogatchi, Rogatchi Foundation— The Joy of Purim in Michael Rogatchi’s Art Joy with Tears In Jewish tradition, we have ten major holidays annually, with only two of them, Simcha Torah and Purim, is about exalted joy. And on Purim, that joy comes after miraculous rescue from a mortal danger and prospect of total…
By Rabbi Efrem Goldberg, Aish.com— While Purim is normally one of the happiest days on our calendar, this year it will mark a sobering milestone. Purim will essentially mark a full year of living through a pandemic that has radically changed our lives. While we are beyond grateful for the progress with treatments and vaccinations,…