Growing up Hasidic, my unconventional choices for Purim costumes allowed me to take on other identities
Since colonial times, the Book of Esther has proved a powerful metaphor in American politics
Changing my name changed my life for the better
A 1946 Purim celebration in the Landsberg DP camp
Megillat Saragossa tells a tale that parallels the Book of Esther
The holiday’s delights aren’t only found at the bottom of a bottle
Postwar issues of a Yiddish journal for children brought the history of Purim to the present
The Hebrew version we read doesn’t mention God, and avoids theology. But the ancient Greek versions of the story took a very different approach.
In Tractate Megillah, the Talmud sends us a very personal note on faith
Purim’s bloody story of vengeance is a necessary reminder about how justice really works
As a new convert, I’ve now celebrated the entire cycle of Jewish holidays for the first time—but in a way I’d never expected
What the late comedian can teach us about Purim
Rewriting the story of Vashti
Growing up in Queens, I tried to hide my Iranian roots. But my mother had other ideas.
A careful rethinking of a challenging Jewish narrative, for Purim
From Queen Elizabeth to Abraham Lincoln, the story of Purim has shaped our most contentious debates
Creating a new kind of Megillah—using the historic Birds’ Head Haggadah as inspiration
Rokhl’s Golden City: Eritrean detainees read Isaac Bashevis Singer, and the mother tongue meets the mother-land