When Should Mishloah Manot be given in Jerusalem when Shushan Purim is Shabbat? 

Yaakov Jaffe examines the different opinions about when mishloah manot should be given in Jerusalem when Shushan Purim is on Shabbat.

“Miracles Do Not Happen at Every Hour”: Purim Drinking as anti-Christian Polemic

Eliav Grossman examines the Talmud's account of drinking on Purim, reading it as directed at Christian texts and traditions.

Purim and Paul: The Torah Veiled and Unveiled

What do Paul, Purim costumes, and Purim torah all have in common? Yehuda Fogel delves into the meaning of hiddenness and its role in revelation on Purim.

A Purim Teaching for our Time: Malbim’s Proto-Feminist Commentary on Esther

Purim - Armed with feminist and political theory, Don Seeman probes the depths of Malbim's Esther commentary.

An Obligation of Sight: Depictions of Suffering in the Haggadah

Ranana Dine explores the depictions of suffering in haggadot.

Vashti: Feminist or Foe?

Tzvi Sinensky contends that the rabbinic and feminist readings of Vashti are not diametrically opposed.

Purim and the Joke of Jewish Sovereignty

Zach Truboff argues that Purim reminds us of our vulnerability even with the State of Israel.

Puritan Purim

How did Esther shape the way Puritans saw the ideal role of the contemporary woman? Cotton Mather, a major player in the Salem Witch Trials, had much to say in his Ornaments for the Daughters of Zion. Stuart Halpern of Yeshiva University explains, wishing us all a Puritan Purim.

Poets Are Purim Jews: On Contemporary Poetry’s Inexplicable Obsession with the Ordinary 

Poet Yehoshua November notices a defining characteristic of contemporary poetry—fixation on the ordinary. In light of Hasidic theology, November argues that appreciation for the holiness of the ordinary underlies Megillat Esther and the celebration of Purim.

The Accidental Iniquity of Amalek

In a fascinating analysis, Gavriel Lakser places the Megillah in the context of the overarching struggle between the Jewish people and Amalek.