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Purim

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Collection
Gold line drawings of woman, mask, and tambourine on blue and gold background

The Megillah's Two Models of Leadership

Maya Viswanathan

Megillat Esther reminds us of a different way to lead, a different way to change the world.

Collage of Julia Haart and a megillah scroll on an orange gradient background

Julia Haart: The Anti-Esther

Aviva Schilowitz

Queen Esther used her power to save and lift up other Jews. That’s my version of Jewish power and feminism. But Julia Haart, the star of My Unorthodox Life, uses her power as a weapon against other Jews.

Image of the hebrew letters samech, tav, resh on one row, followed by tav, resh, samech, on the row underneath

Esther and Teresa: A Play on Words for Purim

Ellen Kanner

This Purim, learn all about Teresa de Lucena, a conversa who revered Queen Esther. 

Topics: Purim, Antisemitism
Statue of Maimonides in Córdoba, Spain

Jewishness Itself is a Home

Isadora Kianovsky

Over the course of my semester abroad, I realized that, even though I wasn’t at home, I wasn’t without a home, either.

Savoy Curry holding Orecchie di Amon in each hand

This Purim, Make Foods That Celebrate Your Unique Cultural Heritage

Savoy Curry

With the holidays falling on the same day this year, I’m celebrating my Irish-Jewish heritage.

Topics: Recipes, Purim

Judith Sheindlin

For two and half decades, former New York family court Judge Judith Sheindlin has riveted daytime viewers, racked up awards, and sold thousands of books to people hungry for the tough love of a tough Jewish mother. Millions of viewers who watch Judge Judy every day are treated to many Yiddish words and wisdom the jurist uses on a parade of deserving participants who enter her TV studio courtroom.

Fabric Collage

Vashti's Story: A Midrash

Rabbi Rachel Bearman
Rabbi Paul Kipnes

Rabbis Rachel Bearman and Paul Kipnes retell the story of Vashti in her own voice in this “Midrashic Monologue.”

Topics: Feminism, Purim
Chocolate Tahini Hamentaschen (Final Photo)

Hamentaschen with Strawberry Balsalmic and Chocolate Tahini Fillings

Lisa Yelsey

Celebrating Purim involves listening to the reading of the scroll of Esther and donating to charity. It also, crucially, involves eating hamentaschen. These recipes, inspired by my favorite fillings as a child, are a combination of sweet and savory, cutting the often overly-sweet jam and chocolate fillings with a little bit more depth of flavor.

Topics: Recipes, Purim
Daniella Shear Dressed as Queen Esther

Queen Esther: Quiet Leader

Daniella Shear

Purim has always been ranked high on my list of favorite holidays. Who doesn’t love dressing up, eating hamantaschen, playing games, and winning prizes? In addition to my synagogue’s annual Purim carnival I also look forward to the megillah reading each year. I always found the story to be interesting, but as I’ve gotten older, my interpretation has evolved from one about a queen who saves her people (the Jews), to a complex narrative about a female leader.

Topics: Activism, Purim
Invitation to Fancy Dress Ball, Purim Association of New York City, 1881

On Purim and Women Teachers of Text

Josh Weisman

The holiday of Purim, whose observance centers around the public chanting of the Book of Esther, is a yearly opportunity to reflect on women in the Jewish textual tradition, and women’s relationship to this tradition.

Topics: Purim
Bella Abzug and Others in a Purim Play, New York City, 1934

Purim Poem: Mishloach Manot

Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld

One of my favorite practices on Purim is the mitzvah of mishloach manot– delivering gifts of food to friends and neighbors.

Topics: Purim

Jewish Diversity and Innovation: The View from the Kitchen

Discover how recipes can tell stories about Jewish history and its ever-changing rich cultural diversity.

Queen Esther and Bella Abzug: Costumes, Leadership, and Identity

Discover how two remarkable Jewish women: The biblical figure, Esther, and the historical figure, Bella Abzug, both fought for justice and liberation by adopting personas that helped them achieve their goals.

"Vashti Refuses the King's Summons," 1878

Vashti, Purim, and Women's History Month

Shari Short

I have a vague recollection of the first time I learned about Vashti. I was sitting at circle time on a primary-colored rug in my pre-K class at Sunday school and was told, “Vashti was not nice to the King. She would not dance for the King.” And we all just nodded our heads in sympathy for King Ahashuarus. “Poor King.” We all thought, “Vashti is evil.”

Topics: Purim

Henrietta Szold sends nurses Rose Kaplan and Rachel Landy to Palestine to begin the work of Hadassah.

January 18, 1913
"This is what your group ought to do … You should do practical work in Palestine."

Death of Ruth Fredman Cernea, cultural anthropologist of Jews in Myanmar and Washington, DC

March 31, 2009

Ruth Fredman Cernea said, "Jewish humor is not silly, but it is absurd absurdity. It is the opposite of deep seriousness."

Miriasha Borsykowsky and Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox's Brave New Platform

Miriasha Borsykowsky

I consider myself a feminist, and I also strive to combat other axes of oppression in my daily life, but sometimes I fall through. Far too often, I’ll stay quiet when I hear someone make a transphobic comment or a misogynistic remark. Some days I’m really not up to challenging that person, but other times I just let myself believe that it’s not my battle, that it doesn’t matter, that someone else will take care of it.

Bella Abzug on the cover of "Life Magazine," June 9, 1972

Bella and Esther: If You've Got It, Flaunt It

Miriam Cantor-Stone

How did Esther and Bella Abzug make change in their communities? How have Jewish women used costumes to help them achieve their goals? What can these stories teach us about gender and Judaism today?

Topics: Purim

Queen Esther and Bella Abzug: Costumes, Leadership, and Identity

Throughout history, activists have chosen different costumes and personas as strategic tools to help them stand up against injustice. Examine how the biblical figure Esther and the historical figure Bella Abzug fought for justice and liberation by adopting personas that helped them to achieve their goals. JWA staff will demonstrate ways to use the stories of these women in your classrooms as you prepare for Purim.
Kosher Camera

pJewishMisanthropy announces "Kosher Camera" that erases women in real time

Leah Berkenwald

Yesterday eJewish Philanthropy released a special, satirical Purim edition of their usual newsletter called pJewishMisanthropy. The whole thing is absolutely hilarious--at least it should be to any of us working in the Jewish communal world who read often-vague articles about the future of "peoplehood," "Jewish innovation," "leadership," and "engagement" in the ever-changing Jewish American/Israeli landscape. Still, one story in particular caught my attention.

International Women's Day and Purim: Finding the connection

Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez

International Women’s Day has been observed since the early 1900s.

Topics: Purim
Shira Kline and Jon Adam Ross, 2012

An “Extraordinary” Purim with Shira Kline and Jon Adam Ross

Etta King Heisler

Having survived a blizzardy drive down dark, unfamiliar roads last Wednesday evening, I shook the cold and snowflakes from my coat and walked into a warm room at the Newton JCC.

Topics: Purim, Theater
Espinacas con Garbanzos (Spinach and Chickpeas)

Eating Jewish: Espinacas con Garbanzos (Spinach and Chickpeas)

Katherine Romanow

Hamantaschen are the signature food of Purim, and I definitely look forward to this time of year knowing that I’ll get to eat my fill of those delicious cookies.

Topics: Food, Recipes, Purim
Hamantashen

Cookie cleavage: How much is too much?

Preeva Tramiel

I took these pictures last Purim to illustrate a little-discussed aspect of the aspect of hamantashen baking: Cookie cleavage.

Topics: Food, Purim
College Costume Party

Purim, drinking, and consent: The Jewish community's role in preventing sexual violence

Chanel Dubofsky

In the end, I hung the plastic bag of condoms on the door handle of my hotel room.

Topics: Purim

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