For the last few days, because of the approach of Purim, I have been posting chapters from my recent book “Unusual Bible Interpretations: Ruth, Esther, and Judith,” in which among a lot of other things, I showed that Judith, in the apocrypha, the book Jewish ancestors decided not to include in the Bible, was more [...]
I am reposting this essay since Purim is coming shortly. My book “Ruth, Esther, and Judith,” tells, among much else, what the biblical book Esther really states, not what people want it to state. It is remarkable how a reading of the biblical text itself without any preconceived notions reveals many things that is [...]
Since the holiday of Purim occurs soon, I thought you might be interested in reading the introduction I wrote to my analysis of the book of Esther in my book "Unusual Bible Interpretations: Ruth, Esther, and Judith." [...]
The biblical Purim differed from how it is observed today The current practice is that Purim is celebrated as a one day holiday in Jerusalem on 15 Adar as a commemoration of the end of hostilities in the walled city of Shushan, where the battles occurred on 13 and 14 Adar, while [...]
Purim is not observed as mandated in the Bible I described in my book “Mysteries of Judaism”[1] that no Jewish holiday is observed today as mandated in the Bible. The rabbis changed every one of them. Many of them had to be changed because their basic observance was a sacrifice, and sacrifices [...]
Review by Israel Drazin Days of Deliverance By Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Ktav Publishing House, 2007, 224 pages About a dozen volumes were published after Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s death (1903-1993) based on writings he did not publish. This one contains five essays on Purim, four on Hanukkah, and one that [...]
The Dawn By Yoram Hazony Shalem Press, 2000, 312 pages Subtitled “Political Teachings of the Book of Esther,” The Dawn is one of the best commentaries written on the biblical book. Homiletical imaginative midrashic commentaries are legion, including a view that Esther was actually ugly but God caused King Ahashverosh to be fascinated and [...]
