Posts tagged Esther
Shades of the Present Day in Purim Megillah

by Rabbi Richard Hirsh

What an odd moment in American cultural history surrounds this coming season of Purim. The opening chapters of the Megillah are replete with narratives that resonate in contemporary terms. A husband orders his wife to appear wearing her royal diadem — and, in the midrashic imagination, “nothing else” — for the amusement of his banquet guests, none of whom speak to the inappropriate and degrading demand.

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Shalom Bayit: Domestic Violence in the Jewish Community and Beyond

by Naomi Ragins Senser, Executive Board Member of SHALVA, the Jewish Domestic Abuse Counseling Center in Chicago

The Talmud teaches that anyone who has the ability to correct a situation and is derelict in doing so bears the responsibility for whatever results. If abuse is not acknowledged, it is tolerated. Standing by while a sin is being committed is a violation of Jewish law. Abuse is happening in our neighborhoods.  Women and their children are being harmed. We cannot stand by.

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