How to Read the Newspaper & the Websites

a freilichen purim

A very powerful and moving message. I was wondering about all of the details of the Vashti story in the Book of Esther. But now the lesson is clear: The Megillah is teaching us that all of the seemingly disconnected events in the world, events which seem completely alien to Jews and Torah -- yet upon deeper reflection, they are all part of the Purim story. The feast of Achasverosh is also a Jewish story, in its true essence.

I'm still in the throes of the shiur, but I want to express gratitude first to David & Eda Schottenstein for sponsoring this wonderful experience and a speedy recovery to James E. Philips. And,of course, Rabbi Jacobson, because of your class I participated in a Purim farbrengen.

Did I understand the class correctly, that the novel idea of the Megillah is that even the non-Jewish stories are part of a Jewish story? That the party of the king and the story of Vashti is indespensible to the Purim miracle, and thus the Jew ought to understand that the whole world and all of the world events were created for him to serve G-d?

zeyer shein! Thank you Rabbi Jacobson.

Yes but even deeper: that the Jew must understand that G-d's system is that He has a vast world "running" all for the individual event of Purim. So when the Jew sees the vastness of the world and politics, they ought not to feel isolated, lonely and out of "touch" with reality, as he\she must know that G-d rules the world in this fashion -- decades in advance He is setting in motion an entire series of events resulting in a single moment of salvation.

Wow! This is an amazing shuir. Absolutely great. Special thank you to David and Eda.

Wow. Yasher Koach.

How do I explain the Rashi you quote בראשית בשביל התורה ובשביל ישראל שנקראו ראשית to a secular person?

Yasher koach on the sicha. May you go from strength to strength! What is also fascinating is how the story of Purim is connected to and directly affects events that happened thousands of years before Purim! According to the Sde Chemed (and others, the entire episode of Esther is to "repair" the error committed by Adam and Chava (Eve)! Consider the following: A. First of all, the story of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge revolves and evolves around food and clothes. In essence, Adam and Chava eat forbidden food and must wear special clothes. B. Thematically, the story of Purim revolves and evolves around forbidden food and clothes. (Achashveiros feast) and clothes (Mordechi dresses in sackcloth and then later the King's garments--which could correspond to the Midrash that says that G-d made garments for Adam and Chava.) Then the process of repair starts: A. Chava is convinced by the snake to do something. B. Esther must convince Achashvairos to do something. A. The snake "convinced" Chava to eat and she and Adam ate. B. Esther fasts, and tells Mordechai to fast, and they and all Jews fast. A. Chava was responsible for the future of the Jewish people. B. Esther was responsible for the future of the people, because they all lived in under her husband's rule. A. Where do we find Haman mentioned in the Torah? B. Hashem asks Chava and Adam did you eat from HaMin HaEitz - A. Aitz is the same gematria as Memuchan. I am sure that there are many other similarities. Leibel

I once heard that Leibel Estrin had a conversation with the Lubavitcher Rebbe about the theme of this class -- accepting the idea that all of existance is for the Jewish people. Is this the same Leibel like the one writing above? If yes, Leibel please tell us the story.

this is a beautiful idea

Thank you for the passionate delivery. Funny that for so many years I had a struggle with this Esther story… especially the assimilation part; not addressing the intermarriage aspect, the reasoning behind it and behind the lack of not addressing it, and moreover the way we all need to hear it, celebrate it and in a way glorify it every year. I guess it’s just a small part of the big picture. In truth, the Purim story is about the existence and the importance of Interdependency in our world. How fundamental it is for our understanding that it's not only about our own existence but also about others, it is about the importance of otherness and therefore how to relate and behave towards it. “If we see dependent relationship, no ignorance will arise. Therefore, with a great deal of effort, we should try to realize dependent relationship” (“Treatise of four hundred verses”). Maybe I got the message totally wrong but what I got out of your class just reinforced my deep belief that especially us Jews, we must not only recognize the importance of the “otherness” and the “global story” as an essential part of this world’s purpose, G-d’s wish and creation , but as a result of this recognition we must accept and respect each and every element of this world that’s “external” in our eyes to our own lives, traditions, religion and so on. Because after all it’s all “one holistic universe”. What I do think wasn’t expressed (and again, maybe I just didn’t hear/understand that part, and it was expressed and therefore my apologies) is that although on one hand the Purim story demonstrate the “for us the world was created,” so we could fulfill our mission and G-d’s wish and this should eliminate any inferiority complexes or feelings of isolation within us, the massage doesn’t stop there. We must also express respect and acknowledgment of the importance of “the global story” -- all the other elements this world composed of, in order to avoid developing superiority complex within us which will lead to separation, hatred, anti-Semitism and so on. The Purim story should be a humbling one and not stop at the “ feeling important” ego soothing part. Again I am a great believer in the “You are, therefore I am” -- symbiotic relationships. Recognizing the interdependency will eliminate ignorance and promote harmony in the world. You know what, now that I’m thinking about it, we Jews have an unbelievable responsibility to demonstrate this concept and teach the world respect & acceptance despite what we are, where we’re from and what we believe in. That after all we are all one, from the same source, made by the same creator and the bottom line is that it’s a One Holistic Universe. We might have different “Jobs” on this earth, but we are all interdependent. ( I would even go further to say, that this demonstrate that we are all equally important! After all what importance Ester have if not for the existence of Achsverosh.)

I truly enjoyed your shiur and I wanted to add a thought I heard this week from Rabbi Yitchok Berkowitz consistent with your theme. The purim story actually started earlier and ended later. It started with the initial reconstruction of the 2nd Beis Hamikdash. The construction halted when antisemites told the King of Persia that a 2nd Beis Hamikdash would be bad for bad for Persia. In order to start construction again, these anti semites had to go. But how and why should an antisemite like Achasveroch want to get rid of them. So we have the Purim story with all of its twists and turns and now how to avoid a decree to anihilate the Jews, Chas V'shalom but to issue a new decree to get rid of the anti-semites. Now, no decree against the Jews and more, no opposition to building the 2nd Beis haMikdash. Add to this the Medrash that Esther had a son with Achaverosh named Daryvish who permitted the construction continued and we see that the entire Purim story had an second purpose, the construction of the 2nd Beis HaMikdash. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you for the shiur. It had a profound message. However, (and probably I am missing something) but now that I know that everything going on in the world is for the Jews, it's still mostly hindsight. How indeed should we read the newspaper? Are we able to see today in the news how it is good for the Jews? Like the present meltdown of the economy. It is clearly supernatural, and we have to have emunah, but should we be reading the newspaper every day like we're doing Chitas because it's G-d at work? In 1840 did any Jew cheer at the end of the opium war? Should we be reading the newspaper at all?

Baruch HaShem

I am a Japanese planning to convert in Israel. 21 years ago, I went the United State to study in a college. I wanted to study at a University in Japan, but Japanese entrance exams for universities were very difficult and I chose to go to the US. In California, I date with a Jewish boyfriend. He was Jewish, but secular. However, I became schizophrenia, needed to come back to Japan and left the boyfriend. If I did not become schizophrenia, I would have stayed with the boyfriend because of the very Egotistic thinking I had that time. If I stayed with him without the illness, I think my life as well as his life would be much difficult than now. Since then, I had the influence of the ex Jewish boyfriend when I looked at Judaism. However, 12 years later, I met Chabad. Now 21 years later, I study Chassidus at the Yeshiva.net and Chabad.org, and Beis Chabad Japan learning what is true Yiddish Kait is. Thanks to the English I learned in the US, it is very easy to understand the classes. I am sure that He sent me to the US to study English so that I can learn Yiddish Kait easily as I do today. I still have schizophrenia, but I believe this was necessary to counter my strong Ego. And even with it, I still choose a life to be a Chasid.

Baruch HaShem

I was hospitalized to a psychiatric hospital. I am in the process of rehabilitation. However, because of this, I have been able to study at The.Yeshiva.net for 2 years and it has been a great salvation. Beehi Bimi Achashverosh... I do not know what meritorious thing I ever had to receive this gift from Above.

רק לאחרונה גיליתי אוצר זה.
ומאז נעשה שימוש רב ביותר.
בשיעור, בדרשה, ובחברותא

Dedicated to memory of Fogels’ Family; Dear Ruth, Udi, Yakov, Elad and Hadas, now you might see Him better – but we miss and always will miss you here…
Questions and Exercises.
1. Why do we have to read the entire Megilah on Purim…Why is there a religious obligation to know the Persian King’s 187-day feast?
We were taught that G-d’s name is very powerful. When we use any of His seventy (?) names, we release certain type of energy and have to be very cautious with enormous power which it carries. So sages gave us tools that can be helpful in that: dashes, apostrophes, and all kinds of substitutes that conceal the Source and isolate us from direct bust of energy flow. Do you think it is very comfortable for G-d to be screwed, put into knots or be abbreviated every time we have connection to Him? Lewis Carol gave us a very remote glinpse of that feeling, when he put Alice into space that was either too small for her or too large. It isn’t a nice feeling to be a size of a house you are in and spread your legs or arms out of it! Or to be as tall as a tower and not be able to touch your own toes! Cheshire cat doesn’t have these problems, because he is invisible; with only his smile left for the audience, he feels more comfortable than poor Alice. So did G-d in Megilah Esther: he conceals Himself to the point of Cheshire cat and if you will start reading it not from the very beginning or will cut it somewhere, in a process you might hurt (G-d forbid) His precious body.
2. Why will the book of Esther not be eclipsed even after the coming of Mashiach?
Do you mean the time when “ we will have been like dreamers?” Can you imagine our beautiful Blue Planet without intoxicating atrocity, shmark of greed, sweetness of money worshipping, healthy selfishness and so on? How would we know that it will still be our Earth and not Heaven? Comes Megilah Esther and says that it would be a witness…, because there were for no purpose it to be created for other than announces His Glory here: in all other worlds G-d’s presence is pretty obvious and only here He can make “His glove” feels independence and looks alive .
3. What is the lesson… on how to view and understand all the news going in the world?
After this class I found an interesting twist: may be common antiSemitic bias “whatever bad things happen in the world,- it’s always Jews’ fault!” is not far from truth?(though we “couldn’t drink all water from faucets” and we had not yet been born when dinosaurs died out…)The main game rule is - if He wants to have relationship with the Jews in flash and blood, He has to set up a stage and needs to inhibit this world with folks of different kinds, each of which is indispensible and place each blade of grass in its particular place and so on. But by the end of the day “it’s all about a bride and a groom”…
Here is a space for those who would like (sh)mus(s)ing for a while . Few questions are waiting for your heart to talk and your imagination to work. You may start from a simple version, as it was in “The Elephant’s Child” by Rudyard Kipling or scuba diving deeply into the place “where the two worlds of determinism and indeterminism meet” Make a move, -start to fly! You know you can do it!
Happy Purim!