Review of Yehuda Landy: Purim and the Persian Empire
Mitchell First reviews Yehuda Landy's Purim and the Persian Empire.
Catching up to Israel: A Yom Ha’atzmaut Reflection on the Post-Pesah Parshah Gap
Shmuel Hain comments on the leap year parshah-gap between Israel and the Diaspora.
The Directional Shaking of the Lulav: Bible, Mysticism, and Religious Polemics
Yaakov Jaffe traces the origins and evolution of the custom to shake the lulav in different directions.
The Giving of the Torah and the Beginning of Eternity: Reflections on Revelation, Innovation,...
Eli Rubin reflects on the meaning of revelation, innovation, and history at the giving of the Torah.
“I’d Fast a Second Day”
Julie Goldstein reflects on her recent Yom Kippur experience and why it matters for Orthodox women everywhere.
Rebbe Shimon Opened
Joey Rosenfeld discusses the inner meanings of Lag Ba-Omer.
Passover’s Rupture and Reconstruction
Yosef Lindell argues that the Haggadah focuses on the story of the Exodus rather than on the laws of the paschal sacrifice as a way of looking forward towards the future redemption.
Unorthodox? How Megillat Esther Justifies the Holiday of Purim
Tzvi Sinensky suggests that the Megillah itself confronts the question of Purim's legitimacy.
The Myth of the Judaic Puritans
Did the English Puritans of New England emulate Jewish prayers and practices? Yisroel Benporat investigates the common claim and its complexities--as well as what the myth itself tells us about Jews in America.
Queen Aster and Queen Esther
Ariel Clark Silver describes how Queen Esther’s story inspired women’s rights activist Louisa May Alcott’s short fable of an Aster who wisely ruled the kingdom of the flowers.
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