Analysis
Monday, April 22nd 2024
Meir Y. Soloveichik First Things, January 2024 “Anti-Semitism is not a hatred of difference; it is a hatred of Jews.” The collection of Yad Vashem, Israel’s museum of the Holocaust and memorial to its victims, presents us with a chronicle of human barbarity and evil. But in its celebration of those “Righteous Gentiles” who protected […]
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Rabbi Dr. Norman Solomon The Torah.com, Mar. 15, 2024 “I hope that, just as we welcome all four ‘sons’ to our table and read to each according to his needs, we can also welcome all four readers, and take from each according to our needs, and the needs of our generation.” You don’t have to be a […]
Mijal Bitton Sapir Journal, October 2023 – February 2024 “This is what Jewish peoplehood feels like. The pain is telling us that the organism is working, that we are still a “we.” This pain is the essence of being — or becoming — a Jew.” The words of the Torah can reflect our profound sorrow in this moment. Each […]
Monday, March 25th 2024 / Sunday, March 24th 2024
Leanne Stillerman Zabow, Times of Israel, Mar. 25, 2024 This is our first Purim in Israel as olim (immigrants). I heard the question “how can we celebrate and be happy at such a time”? asked several times. The resounding idea came through that even more so, we should celebrate this year. We are […]
Stuart Halpern WSJ, Mar. 21, 2024 “Purim’s story reminds its readers that though what the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks called the “dignity of difference” might be intolerable for some, pride in Jewish particularism serves as the wellspring of salvation.” Jews have always been a biblically minded people, but this year one ancient story feels tragically resonant. Synagogues […]
Rabbi Wendy Zierler The Torah.com, Mar. 17, 2016 “Purim merits repeated reassertion and preservation as an enduring truth in modern times and beyond not merely because it serves as a yearly reminder of Jewish vulnerability in exile and our gratitude for all the salvation that chance has sent our way but because it is the holiday […]
Isranet Daily Briefing
Friday, March 22nd 2024
SHABBAT READING Purim: Mocking Persia’s Dat and Reaccepting the Torah: Rachel Friedman, The Torah.com, May 3, 2023 — The book of Esther centers on the action and intrigue at the royal court of King Ahasuerus in the Persian capital of Shushan (Susa), repeatedly calling attention to its silliness and eccentricities.[1] Nowhere does the Persian court appear more […]
Friday, March 22nd 2024 / Thursday, March 21st 2024
Stuart Halpern Tablet, Mar. 21, 2024 “A humble young woman thrust onto a stage she never expected to step on to, a scheming and irredeemably wicked antagonist, and a society hoping that by virtue of its faith it might merit heavenly favor have served as the concocted elements of countless American moments.” Twenty-three years […]
Yoram Hazony Commentary Magazine, March 2016 “Strength attracts strength, and power attracts power. Thus the weak, to the degree they can make themselves seem strong, can attract the support of the strong, thereby becoming strong in reality.” As the book of Esther reaches its climax, the Jews of Persia have turned political defeat into political […]
Friday, December 8th 2023 / Friday, December 8th 2023
Hanukkah as the Messy Middle: Elana Stein Hein, Times of Israel, Dec. 7, 2023 The Meaning of the Menorah: Seth Mandel, Commentary Magazine, Dec. 7, 2023 The Battle Cry of Hanukkah: Arynne Wexler, Tablet, Dec. 5, 2023 The Self-delusion of Secular Jews: David Mamet, Unherd, Dec. 7, 2023 _______________________________________________________ FOR FURTHER REFERENCE: Hanukkah Celebrations Are Being Cancelled Due to […]
Friday, December 8th 2023
Arynne Wexler Tablet, Dec. 5, 2023 “The story of the Maccabees is one of defiance and anti-assimilation. It’s about hard-as-nails Jews who fight for survival. It’s time we bring that back.” I hate Hanukkah. Wait, let me revise that. I hate what Hanukkah has become. A minor holiday in Israel, Hanukkah is often the one […]
Seth Mandel Commentary Magazine, Dec. 7, 2023 “No menorah lighting because Shirley Vermillion and her festival don’t want to give the impression that they support killing children—and having a Jewish ceremony would, in her eyes, do exactly that.” Nothing crystallizes the inseparability of Judaism from the state of Israel quite like efforts to ban […]
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Manuscript [62.0.21]: Painted Esther Scroll (Italy, 18th c… ( Flickr)](https://isranet.org/storage/book-3-230x300.jpg "Flickr
Manuscript [62.0.21]: Painted Esther Scroll (Italy, 18th c… ( Flickr)")
