There are uncanny parallels between the hanging of Haman’s 10 sons in the story of Purim and the hanging of 10 Nazis after the Nuremberg Trials for crimes against humanity.
In honor of the holiday of Purim that is observed this week, celebrating a miraculous Jewish victory in ancient Persia, let’s take a quick glance at the history of the Jews of Iran.
The word for "weaken" in Hebrew is "Tash." Take a three-cornered cookie, each representing one of the three forefathers, and you have "Haman tash" - "Haman was weakened."
It is because Purim commemorates the literal survival of the Jewish people to this very day that the sages wanted to make sure we celebrate accordingly.
Every Jew is responsible not only for his or her direct family, but also for the entire Jewish people. We're taught to feel each other's happiness and pain.
The festive holiday of Purim commemorates Israel’s salvation from extermination by the mighty Persian Empire, some 2500 years ago. Jews in Israel and all over the world celebrate Purim on the 14th day of Adar as a time of “Light, Gladness, Joy and Honor for the Jewish people” (Esther 8:16).
Take this crash course on Purim to see how a deep belief in the Almighty and His influence on our everyday lives can deliver us from the clutches of evil.
FDR pledged “the abrogation of all laws and decrees inspired by Nazi governments or Nazi ideologists.” But his public rhetoric apparently didn't express his private feelings.
As we can learn from Mordechai, one of the Purim heroes, a great person and a great leader is determined by the way he (or she!) treats the 'little guys!'
The message of Purim is a microcosm of Jewish history and the repeated Jewish threat to our existence, not merely from the outside, but the threat to our existence from assimilation.
Who could have predicted that 10 Nazi war criminals would face the same fate that awaited the Purim story's villain and his 10 sons thousands of years earlier?
What many people don’t realize is that Purim, the jolly, drink-all-you-can, feasting and costume-based holiday is actually on par with the holy day of Yom Kippur!
Enjoy a couple of drinks, and when you get to the Purim level of tipsiness, let it remind you that God is always there - even when it seems that he isn’t.
When celebrating Purim, try to keep in mind the entire year of Jewish holidays and to thank God for all the miracles he has done for us throughout history.