Bert and Ernie, as portrayed by Burt (Visotzky) and Arnie (Eisen), have fun arguing over who’s got the bigger Hamentash. Coincidentally or no, one is an ordained rabbi, former PBS star, friend of Bill Moyers and author of an unlikely hot-selling 1997 re-examination of Genesis. The other is a professor of the sociology of religion,…
Purim might just be the perfect Jewish foodie holiday — we are required to feast, drink in revelry and to give one another food presents, or mishloach manot. The latter is the perfect project for passionate cooks and anyone who is testing the waters with DIY gifts. The tradition of giving edible gifts comes from…
She’s got the No. 1 album in the country — and, apparently, she can relate to the Bible’s Queen Esther. Katy Perry, who’s dominated radio waves since May with the inescapable pop single “California Gurls,” went straight to the top spot September 1 with the release of her third album, “Teenage Dream.” In addition to…
I couldn’t read all the Esther and Vashti talk around the Web, without chiming in myself. Like Elissa Strauss, I dressed up as one of the two queens every year at my Jewish day school’s Purim carnival — at least until 3rd or 4th grade when we started getting more creative with our costumes. Whether…
When I was in kindergarten I played Queen Esther in our synagogue’s Purim spiel. I remember feeling pretty good about playing the lead, and energized that the role called for playing a heroine and putting on a frilly pink dress. I thought about this Saturday during a discussion at my synagogue about gender and power…
Come Saturday night and Sunday, Jewish homes, parties and synagogues will be full of sugared-up little Queen Esthers, superheroes and other assorted costumed children, clad in their Purim guises. I’ve never been the kind of mom willing, or able, to sew artfully constructed costumes with complicated details. When I was in Boro Park once the…
During the year my husband and I lived in Sofia, Bulgaria, we joined local Jews in observing the annual cycle of religious holidays. All were memorable, but Purim was especially meaningful. In addition to hearing the Megillah’s account of how the Jews of ancient Persia were saved from death at Haman’s hand, Bulgarian Jews recall…
You can learn an incredible amount about different people from language. There are, for example, 27 words for “moustache” in Albanian – including a word for what English-speakers would call “no moustache.” It seems that in Albania, moustaches are pretty important. Similarly, the Inuit are famous for having 30 words for snow – clearly they…
חוה ראָזענפֿאַרב און זעניע לאַרסאָן זענען געווען נאָענטע חבֿרטעס ביז זעניע האָט פּובליקירט זייערע בריוו אין 1971.
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