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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Tzav
The simple answer (actually, it’s not so simple!) is that there is so much happening beneath the surface of this story, that we absolutely must go back & hear it again. Like a book or movie with a special twist at the end, when you see or read it again, after you know the ending, you can appreciate it so much more. So it is with Megilat Esther.
Beneath the fairy-tale like facade is a serious sequence of events which impact upon the entire history of Am Yisrael. The backdrop is the re-building of the Bet HaMikdash after the Babylonian exile: Ordered by Cyrus, prohibited by Vashti (the granddaughter of Nebuchadnezer) & then renewed by Darius II, son of Esther & Achashverosh.
And there is a lot to consider about the lead actress in this elaborate Purim play:
We have 2 fast-days named for a person: Tzom Gedalya & Ta’anit Esther. Now, I understand the Gedalya tragedy; his brutal assassination, at the hands of a fellow Jew, nonetheless, brought about a final, bitter end to the Jewish community in Israel after the Temple’s destruction. But Esther?! Why should her name be associated with such a "down" day? While the fast she called for did precede her appeal to the king, it seems inappropriate, almost cruel that our heroine princess should forever be linked with such a sad event.
But the deeper truth is that Esther, for all of her beauty & stunning triumph over Haman, is a truly tragic figure. Orphaned at a young age, married to her much older uncle (with whom she had no children), she is coerced into an immodest beauty contest & then forced to live with a crude, Jew-hating tyrant. She understands that her situation is completely hopeless, & she desperately wants to end it. That is why, says the Gemara, she invites Haman to her party along with the king. Her plan was to "make eyes" at Haman, in the hope that Achashverosh, in a fit of jealous rage, will kill them both. This, she reasoned, would solve all her problems at once.
The trait of m’sirat nefesh, self-sacrifice, characterizes all our greatest heroines. Think Rivka, think Rachel, think Chana, think Rut. These women do what they have to do at great cost to themselves & their personal freedom & luxury. They win their eternal greatness at a high price.
Let us therefore, especially on Purim, pay homage to all those – our mothers, our wives, our soldiers come to mind - who give selflessly of themselves for our survival.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
Chukat "HOW ENTEBBE STOLE THE BICENTENNIAL
The Difference Between Historic & Eternal"
As we approach America's 250th birthday, it's worth remembering her 200th Bicentennial birthday, on Jul. 4th 1976, when Israel "stole the show" by shocking the world & miraculously saving 101 hostages in a foreign continent. As Pres. As Pres. Trump decides which countries get priority in his new Middle-East, it's worth reminding him of the difference between historic events and eternally historic ones. This obviously connects with this week's parsha, as well!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 6 - The Parable of the King of India
The advantages of testimony over circumstantial evidence or philosophical speculation.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
