Halacha:

Purim 

Mishna:

Megillah 

Nach:

Esther 

Collections: Rabbi Etshalom Megilas Esther

Description

We begin by inquiring about the calendar proximity of Purim to Pesach, so inherent in the flow of the seasons that in a leap year we delay Purim by a month in order to maintain the association of this more recent salvation with our foundational one. This leads us to assessing the development of the celebration of Purim, as detailed in Esther, Chapter 9 and exploring the following: Why is Purim celebrated on the day(s) we celebrated - not the day of the victory? Why are there two separate days of Purim? Why is Purim celebrated in the manner it is - and why does it have a Persian name? All of this can be answered against the backdrop of Pesach...