Purim

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.

Eli Genauer explores the profound impact of a printing error on the halakhot of Pesah.

Why have stories of Jewish masquerade captured audiences since ancient times? In her latest, Malka Z. Simkovich explores the hidden meaning behind dressing up, from the Second Temple to '90s cinema.

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

Tzvi Sinensky suggests that the Megillah itself confronts the question of Purim's legitimacy.

Shimon Laufer examines how Rabbinic understanding of the holiday of Passover influenced the holiday of Purim, and how one of the oldest manuscripts of the Mishnah hints that the converse may be true as well.

Mitchell First reviews Yehuda Landy's Purim and the Persian Empire.

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.

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

Ranana Dine explores the depictions of suffering in haggadot.