 | Midrash Rabah 58.3
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| | Rabbi Akiva's students were dosing off as he taught. To rouse them he asked: "Why was Esther queen of 127 lands?" The answer: Since Esther descended from Sarah who lived one hundred twenty-seven years, she (Esther) ruled over 127 lands.
| | Commandments | |
Blessed are you Lord our G!d, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with your commandments, and commanded us concerning the reading of the Megillah.
Baruch Atah AdoShem Elokheinu Melech Ha-olom Asher Kideshonu Bemitzvotov Vetzivonu Al Mikra Megillah.
| | Miracles
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Blessed are you, Lord our G!d, King of the Universe, Who wrought miracles for our fathers in days of old, at this season.
Baruch Atah AdoShem Elokheynu Melech Ha-olam She-asa Nissim La-avoteynu Ba-yyamim Ha-hem Ba-zzman Ha-zze.
| | Season
| | |
Blessed are you, Lord our G!d, King of the Universe, Who has kept us alive, and has preserved us, and enabled us to reach this season.
Baruch Atah AdoShem Elokheynu Melech Ha-olam She-hekheyanu Ve-kiymanu Ve-higgi'anu La-zzman Ha-zze.
| Click Here to Order Rabbi Arthur Segal's Books:
The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal:
A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew
A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the
Torah and Talmud
| | | | New Orleans has the Super Bowl Champion Saints and Mardi Gras. We have the Festival of Purim.
A Holiday Message From Rabbi Arthur Segal's Jewish Spiritual Renewal February 2010
| | Shalom
The Jewish holiday of Purim begins on the evening of February 27, 2010. This is the 14th of the lunar month of Adar.
The Talmud teaches, "When Adar arrives, our joy increases."
Jews were delivered from a potential Holocaust in ancient Persia circa 400 B.C.E. We celebrate by wearing costumes and eating Hamantashen, or "Haman's Pockets," which are fruit filled triangle pastries named after the potential mass murderer.
| | Why Do We Wear Masks to Celebrate Purim?
The story of Purim is told in the Book of Esther whose scroll, Megillah, we read on this holiday. Although it is one of the few Books in the Jewish Bible (TaNaK) containing no mention of G!d's name, we do see His divine influence throughout.
There is much Hebrew word play in the TaNaK. We do not see G!d's name, but we do see His face. To Haman the antagonist, G!d is Hester Panim, a Hidden Divine Face, but G!d was not hidden to the Jews and Esther.
We wear masks when celebrating Purim as a reminder that G!d is always with us, even if we think we cannot see Him during rough times. (The story of Purim continues below...)
| | |  | | | Wear Your Festival of Purim Mask Every Day.
Not literally, but...
 We put on masks, make noise, and tell jokes to celebrate the Festival of Purim to remind ourselves that G!d is always with us, even during difficult times.
But what about the rest of the year? We are living in a very trying period of our history, and at times it can be challenging to enjoy even the simplest pleasures in life.
Of course it would be irresponsible to just say, "To heck with it. I'm going to have a party every day!" But you can live joyfully, knowing that G!d is in your life every step of the way.
My book, The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew, teaches you how to transform your life into one that is happier, more peaceful, and more spiritual, regardless of what is going on in the world around you.
In this book, I distill the teachings of our sages and rabbis that have been passed along for thousands of years, along with lessons from the Torah and the Talmud.
But unlike other Jewish spiritual texts that you may have read, or sermons you may have heard, this book presents these lessons in a concise, easy-to-read, easy-to-follow life transformation process that you can follow step-by-step at your own pace.
You will learn:
- That "normative" Judaism as you have known it throughout your life is not really Judaism at all, why it may leave you uninspired, and how spiritual renewal will help you recapture that inspiration (Chapter 1).
- That your ego is your own worst enemy, and how to win the battle against it (Chapter 2).
- How to stop struggling for control over things you cannot control, and be happier because of it (Chapter 3).
- How spiritual renewal conquers the fears and character flaws that are holding you back in life (Chapters 4 and 5).
- To actually get rid of your character flaws forever (Chapter 6).
- How to turn negative relationships in your life positive
(Chapter 7). - How simple it is to make prayer a regular part of your days...without going back to Hebrew school (Chapter 8).
- How to find peace of mind through meditation (Chapter 9).
- How to simplify life's toughest decisions (Chapter 10).
- How spiritual renewal transforms you into the best individual you can be, and how to stay on track (Chapter 11).
- How to celebrate the Sabbath and the Jewish Holidays with meaning (Chapters 12 and 13).
- How to live with happiness, joy, and freedom every day of your life (Chapter 14).
Why not make the Festival of Purim the beginning of a journey up the path to a happy and joyous life, for yourself or for a friend?
The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew is only $19.99 (plus S&H) when you purchase your copy from Rabbi Arthur Segal's online bookstore. That's $5.00 off the Amazon price.
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| | | | | This is the Part Where We Get Drunk
There is another spiritual lesson taught at Purim. Haman was a descendent of Amalek, the Biblical tribe that attacked the Israelites when they left Egypt. They charged at the Hebrews, but not at the front where the able bodied men marched, they attacked the rear where the women and children walked.
As an aside, King Saul, the first king of the Hebrews, lost his kingship to David for sparing the Amalek king's life in a war.
There is a Biblical commandment to "blot out the name of Amalek." The rabbis of the Talmud lived a Judaic life with the universal G!d of peace, mercy, forgiveness, grace and kindness, and distanced themselves from the bellicose Hebraic cult G!d.
They taught that Jews, instead of blotting out Amalek with weapons, should observe this biblical commandment by using noisemakers (two stones banged together) or stomping one's feet whenever the name of Haman was read aloud from the Megillah of Esther. Today we use noisemakers called graggors or ra'ashan.
These graggors, masks, costumes, gifts (mischlo'ach manot), charity (matanot le'evyonim), and Hamantashen, plus other nuttiness like April Fools-type parodies (Purim shpiels) already make Purim quite a festive occasion. When you throw in a Talmudic decree to get so inebriated that you cannot recognize the difference between the phrases: "blessed be Mordechai" and "cursed be Haman" (Bavli Tractate Megillah 7b), you've got the potential for a celebration that could rival Mardi Gras!
While Purim is clearly the most raucous of Jewish celebrations, it is still a very spiritual, holiday.
| | | | | Rabbi Yisrael's Russian Purim
In 1838 Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin, Russia was in prison and unable to offer mishlo'ach manot (Purim gifts) to anybody. He stood by a window and cried as he remembered his beautiful hometown and all of his fellow Jews living there.
He said:
"Ribono shel Olam (Master of the World), I give you my tears as mishlo'ach manot. And so I want to say, dear G!d, Jews have had tears already for so long. I want to bless Jews that this time we should be able to give you our laughter for mishlo'ach manot."
(Thoughts on Purim continue below...)
| | | | | | The Torah and Talmud Made Easy
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They find it difficult to understand and interpret in a way that makes sense and has relevance to their lives in the modern world.
The spiritual disconnection that this causes inspired me to write a second book, A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud.
This book instills Jewish values and an understanding of the Torah and Talmud's teachings in plain English and from a modern point of view.
The Talmud teaches that the Torah is about loving our fellow man and that we are to ''go and study.'' The rest is commentary.
A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud clarifies the commentary and allows one to study the Torah and the Talmud to learn the Judaic ideals of love, forgiveness, kindness, mercy and peace.
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| | | | | From Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, Z'l:
"When you love somebody very much, you think about them even when they are not there. This is mishlo'ach manot, sending gifts of love and food to one another through a messenger. Why not face to face? Because in this way you are telling your friends that you are sending them your love, your thoughts, even when they are not there.
Everybody knows that the downfall of the world is lashon ha ra (gossip, the evil tongue). The Talmud says that Haman is the master of lashon ha ra. Mordechai and Esther are masters of NON-lashon ha ra. On Purim we do not send mishlo'ach manot face to face. We are telling each other, "even behind your back, I shall not speak evil about you. Even when I can not see you, I love you."
| | | | | Love Your Fellow as Yourself
The Jews of Bobov, Poland, were not very wealthy. For Purim, they had one big barrel of beer from which everybody would get a little drop. However, one husky Chasid stood over the barrel and drank to his heart's content, not letting anybody else get close.
So the Bobova Rebbe said to him, "Hey, Avramele. You're not the only person in the world. How about loving your neighbor as yourself? The others want some beer also."
Avramele replied, "Rebbe, that's a good commandment for all year. But for Purim I have to get drunk. So I gotta drink."
The Rebbe looked at him for a long time and said, "If you love your neighbor like yourself, you can get drunk by giving a glass of beer to somebody else. L'Chaim! L'Chaim!"
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