--Haaretz's US commentator, Chemi Shalev, laments that Donald Trump's speech at AIPAC "has eclipsed any serious discussion of one of the most turbulent years in the organization’s history."
Purim is upon us. Most Jews who celebrate Purim remember it as the story of the evil Haman who bribed the buffoonish King Ahaseurus to kill all the Jews in the Persian kingdom as a result of his rivalry with the Jewish courtier Mordecai. The Jews managed to depose Haman, and convinced Ahaseurus to let them fight back and slaughter those who would have stood against them.
The key to understanding the story is a statement by a fourth century Babylonian rabbi who lived centuries after the story might have happened, in the place that it was supposed to have happened—Persia. That rabbi, Rava, added one observance to those listed in the Esther scroll itself (feasting, exchanging gifts, supporting the poor and reading the story): “A person is obligated to get drunk on Purim until he cannot tell the difference between ‘blessed is Mordecai’ and ‘cursed is Haman’.” This is a very specific obligation. There is a specific goal here.
Following Peace Now report, Israel's international allies criticize West Bank land appropriation (Times of Israel, 3/16/2016)
Peace Now: Israeli government seized large stretch of land in West Bank (AP, 3/16/2016)
Peace Now: Israeli government seizes 234 hectares of West Bank land (AFP/The Nation, 3/16/2016)
Peace Now: Israeli government seizes large tracts of land in the West Bank for settlements (International Business Times, 3/16/2016)
Peace Now: Israel's government seizes a large plot of land in the West Bank for settlement use (AFP, 3/15/2016)
Peace Now: Israeli government classifies large swaths of land in the West Bank as State Land for settlements use (Jerusalem Post, 3/15/2016)
Peace Now: New land appropriation in West Bank could help link up and potentially expand Jewish settlements (Times of Israel, 3/15/2016)
Peace Now: Israel Seizes Large Tracts of Land in West Bank for Settlements (Reuters, 3/15/2016)
Peace Now: Israel seizes land in West Bank (Xinhua, 3/15/2016)
Peace Now: Order to seize more West Bank land for settlements was signed during VP Biden's visit to Israel (Jordan Times, 3/17/2016)
APN Board member Sid Topol mentioned in Farah Stockman's farewell column in the Boston Globe.
Dear Boston,
The first time I laid eyes on you, I worried that I might be out of my league. The gold dome of the State House was impressive bling for a Midwestern girl like me. To be honest, I took you for a snob at first. After all, you’re a city with not one but two Harvard clubs, in addition to hosting parts of Harvard itself.
But over time, I got to see your down-to-earth side. Your longshoremen. Your stevedores. Your fierce, proud unions.
It took me years to learn your secrets: that it’s OK to save a parking space shoveled out of the snow in Southie, but not in the South End. That Mike’s Pastry is for tourists, but Modern Pastry is for Nonna.
Join us for APN's 2016 Israel Study Tour, November 12 - 17, 2016.
Our tour this year will take into consideration both the local and regional threats facing Israelis, as well as domestic threats to Israeli democracy. We will be staying in Jerusalem and will maintain our usual focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and meet courageous people on both sides who are working to end it. In addition, we will review the threats that Israel is facing on its borders with its neighbors, both north and south. This tour will involve more traveling than usual inside Israel, and will take participants to destinations that we have not explored in a long time.
Our tour this year takes place at an exciting time, right after the US national elections. We will gauge reactions to the election results both among Israelis and Palestinians. As always, the tour will be led by Professor Mark Rosenblum, APN’s founder, and a leading expert on the Middle East and the conflict.
Rabbi Esther L. Lederman is Director of Communities of Practice at the Union for Reform Judaism. She previously served as the associate rabbi at Temple Micah in Washington, DC.
As children, we were given a sanitized ending: Queen Esther and Mordecai save the Jews from destruction at the hands of Haman and his minions. Much merriment ensues, with food and drink. Mishloach manot (gifts of food) are sent to neighbors and friends as a way of offering thanksgiving for being saved from the gallows.
Our rabbis, teachers, and parents didn’t want us to know how it really ended. The truth was kept hidden.