Blog
My Magical Megillah
On a recent trip to visit my father, he gave me a very special gift. An antique silver Megillat Esther which he inherited from his mother, my grandmother, who had a sizable and wonderful judaica collection. I don’t know if my grandmother ever used this megillah. But I know my parents never did. In fact, they were surprised when I told them that it contained a Megillat Esther. So when I took my brand new/really old Megillah to shul this year, it was the first time in many decades, or possibly ever, that somebody was using it to fulfil the...
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To all the Women Living in Palaces by Yocheved Rottenberg
It’s Purim night and I need to go to sleep, but I just can’t. I can’t go to sleep, cuddle up in my world, while I know that other women are crying themselves to sleep tonight. I know Purim is a day of happiness. I know that we’re all trying to be happy, trying so so hard. But I also know that for many women, it’s an overwhelming battle. I think of all my friends who are single mothers, mothers that need to carry an immesurable weight of a whole family on their own small shoulders. It feels unbearable at times. I...
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Haman’s 10 Sons=A Woman’s 10 Commandments by Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi
Haman’s 10 sons got hung on a tree, and here are the 10 things every woman should hang on the tree in order to be done with them once and for all: 1. Parshandata. This literally means, “an interpreter of her religion” (Parshan-Dat-a) Parshandata is when we interpret another woman’s religious level based on her appearance. “…She is religious/ she is kippa sruga/ she is Charedit.” People do this to me all the time. “She is wearing a hat, it’s not a poofy scarf, it’s not a sheitel. So what is she? Stop. No more, this is...
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A Wonderful Photo I Received Yesterday
My cousin Noah in Atlanta has been going through boxes of old family photos, and he’s been discovering all sorts of treasures like this one he sent yesterday of me as a baby with my parents and older brother, John. This photo reminds me the blessing of having parents. Such a normal, common blessing. Almost like the forgotten blessing of ground without which a seed cannot blossom and grow. And it is this blessing that (despite our lackings) we pass on, like the ground to that rotting then blossoming seed, to our children.
read moreShocking Israeli Discovery: 1st Written Record of Queen Esther’s Father-in-Law
A few months ago, the International Media Advisor to Israel’s president was touring around the Tel Lachish archeological site when he discovered a pottery shard that said “Daryavesh” on it. King Daryevesh (also known as Darius) was the father of King Achashverosh from the Purim story. This advisor thought he must be at the receiving end of some kind of joke or at least a misunderstanding, so he was shocked to receive a call last week from Israel’s Antiquities Authority informing him that he had, in fact, discovered an...
read moreSister of Yagel and Hallel HY”D: My Great Grandmother Prepared Me for this Tragedy
This remarkable video of the sister of Hallel and Yagel Yaniv was made the day after they were murdered, Seeing this young girl, and her superhuman statement faith and trust, along with her high school classmates from Ulpanat Tzvia of Har Bracha, we are witnessing the secret of the survival of our ancient people through all the tragedies we have faced throughout history. Through the persecution and Inquisitions and Pogroms and Holocaust and modern terror attacks, throughout the millenia and generations we have held onto the belief that:...
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