Purim
Annual Purim speeches
Purim is the Jewish holiday that celebrates the concepts of good and evil. The date on our calendar when we celebrate Purim fluctuates, but it is typically in March and sometimes in February. In 1981, I celebrated Purim in Jerusalem. I spent the evening of Purim at one yeshiva (a place of Orthodox Jewish learning) and spent the next day at another. In both places, I watched rabbis and other Jews get drunker and drunker, all in the name of Hashem. On Purim, you see, a religious Jew is supposed to get so drunk that he is just on the "good" side of the line between Mordecai (a blessed Jew) and Haman (a Jew hater who many see as the spiritual ancestor of Adolph Hitler). Jews on Purim read the Biblical book of Esther and playfully twirl noisemakers whenever the name of "Haman" is said. Kids, and sometimes adults, dress up for the occasion, often taking on roles like Mordecai, Haman, Esther, Queen Vashti or King Ahasuerus -- all characters from the book of Esther.
When I bought my own home in the mid-80s, I began holding Purim parties of my own. This became an annual ritual. As part of each event, I delivered an original essay written for the occasion.
When I bought my own home in the mid-80s, I began holding Purim parties of my own. This became an annual ritual. As part of each event, I delivered an original essay written for the occasion.
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The Purim 1999 essay discusses how people can go about undertaking a search for the Divine.
The Purim 1998 essay argues that at its core, Judaism rejects the emphasis of hierarchy that so dominates our society. The Purim 1999 essay reflects on the value of having Jewish and American role models, respectively. It was inspired by my trip the previous autumn to Holland, where I sought out landmarks associated with one of my role models, Baruch Spinoza. The Purim 2000 essay is focuses on Judaism’s failures to cope with the challenge of modern secularism and what we can do to meet that challenge. The Purim 2001 essay reflects on the national trauma of the Gore/Bush election. It also seeks to understand how religion can be made into a unifying, rather than a divisive, force in our society. The Purim 2002 essay deals with the topic of terrorism. It proposes that Americans must become a people of ambassadors, in the sense that we must visit, study, and care for the world outside our borders, but must also recognize international terrorism as a cancer that needs to be obliterated. The Purim 2003 essay was devoted to exploring the rabbinical profession. A few years later, I wrote a novel centered around two rabbis (Moses the Heretic), and in 2012 my older daughter matriculated in rabbinical school. The Purim 2004 essay focused on the Iraq War. Will we ever learn that there’s no such thing as a painless war? If Hillary Clinton hadn't voted for that indefensible adventure in Iraq, she’d be President right now. The Purim 2005 essay examined the sorry state of politics in America today. (In 2006, Purim came too close to my younger daughter’s Bat Mitzvah for me to hold a separate Purim party. So there was no Purim essay that year.) The Purim 2007 essay examined the essence of Judaism, with a special focus on progressive, as opposed to Orthodox, Judaism. The Purim 2008 essay reflected on issues that I don't think are especially suitable for publication in a website. So I’m just going to omit it altogether from this part of cyberspace. |
The Purim 2009 essay endeavors to introduce the beauty of Islam to a group of primarily Jewish listeners.
The Purim 2010 essay reflects on the lack of excitement among the contemporary Jewish community in reflecting on the meaning of God. It also looks at the failure among rabbis to confront that lack of excitement among the lay members of the community. The Purim 2011 essay focuses on how we can find the proper balance between emphasizing the “universal” and emphasizing the “particular.” In the process, I discuss two movements that are near and dear to my heart – that of Zionism and the Interfaith Movement. The Purim 2012 essay calls for the creation of a Coalition of Progressive Jews that would bring together non-Orthodox Jews from across various branches of the faith in order to work for common goals. The Purim 2013 essay confronts “the Conflict.” The problem is plenty solvable, I argue, as long as we keep working for a two-state solution and recognizing that the time has come to give both sides tough love. The Purim 2014 essay takes stock of what it’s like to be a Jewish teenager in today’s world. The essay is a hopeful look at Judaism's future despite the profound challenges that lie before us. The Purim 2016 essay confronts the way contemporary Jews are increasingly avoiding their obligation to grapple with one or more of the fundamental domains of Jewish existence, such as universalistic ethics or spirituality. The Purim 2017 essay examines the books of the early prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings), both in terms of the cruelty found within them as well as the inspiration they can offer to contemporary readers. The Purim 2019 essay examined the essence of dignity and why this concept is essential to authentic religion and yet so incredibly misunderstood by the society at large. The Purim 2020 essay analyzed my favorite verse in the Hebrew Bible -- Samuel 1, Chapter 1, Verse 11 (commonly known as "Hannah's Prayer"). The Purim 2025 essay discussed the "fork in the road" at which American Jews find themselves with respect to Israel. |
Photo credit -- Hamentashen: www.flickr.com/photos/14537151@N06/2351982403