llustration by Lior Zaltzman I remember when I first realized I didn’t understand Esther — possibly, didn’t even like her. It was Shabbat afternoon and a group of us were reading over the text of the megillah with a woman from my Orthodox synagogue in St. Louis. I was in junior high, with several years…
Since she can’t rename the holiday itself, our columnist comes up with a cocktail to honor her Purim heroine. Presenting… The Esther. Photograph by Liza Schoenfein. By now we’ve clearly established that when a Jewish holiday comes along, I will not know a thing about it. What I appreciate about my lack of formal religious…
“All our struggles are in vain if the battle against the Jews is not fought to the finish. It is not enough to get the Jews out of Germany. No, they must be destroyed throughout the entire world so that humanity will be free of them.” Thus spake Julius Streicher, whose vile tabloid Der Sturmer…
Arriving at the airport in Tabriz, Iran at 2:30 a.m., I covered my head as the travel agency had instructed. I had come as a tourist, planning to travel the country for three weeks. At immigration, my passport and visa were confiscated because I am American. Segregated from other arriving passengers, in the middle of…
Temple Beth Shalom is one of the most popular bridge playing destinations here in Boca Raton. But although many cruise past the edifice on Glade Road to get a nosh at Izzy’s Deli, few realize that there’s a taste of Yiddish in Temple Beth Shalom’s own bloodlines. To name only a few connections: — The…
At the banquet, donors will be referred to in speeches according to the following key. No donation — An anti-Semite $1–10 — A self-hating Jew $11–50 — A good Jew $51–100 — A proud Jew $101–250 — A mensch $251–500 — A valued member of the community $501–1,000 — A brilliant thinker $1,001–2,000 — A…
It must be embroidered on a sampler somewhere: “Before Jews party, they should suffer a little.” Thus, we fast the day before Purim. Purim is, hands down, the biggest party of the Jewish year. Forget fall’s Simchat Torah, with its sips of single malt, THIS is the Big Megillah and we’re supposed to get trashed….
Nothing in Brooklyn could rival the formal dances in Havana at the Patronato de la Communidad Hebreo de Cuba. And nothing in the world could rival the exquisite Purim Ball of 1954 at the Patronato. Although my nineteen-year old mother was not selected as the Queen Esther of the ball that night, she was one…
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