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The story of Purim is found in the Book of Esther, a long, detailed story known as the "Megillah." In Yiddish, the term "Ganza Megillah" has a number of meanings -- usually a long story -- which is how I am using it now. This week was Purim, the start of the post-mortem releases of the Breitbart tapes on Obama. This is the beginning of the Breitbart effort to force the first open media focus on the racism at the heart of so called Critical Race Studies and an honest examination of who Obama really is. I think all three...

A video by Paul Wilber about the metaphor of Esther saving the nation of Israel through prayer and fasting

The growing signs that Sarah Palin may enter the race for president are igniting warnings that she takes inspiration from Esther. The signs that she might run include reports that she has purchased a house that could serve as a base for a national campaign, that she has given her approval to a film that depicts her years as governor of Alaska and that will debut at Iowa, and that she’s launching a “One Nation” bus tour. One of the warnings about her that crossed our screen was a blog post by Andrew Sullivan, who writes that Mrs. Palin “is...

Upon Governor Palin’s arrival Israelis will be celebrating the festivities of Purim. Purim is the day Jews celebrate the story of Esther. It’s a very festive day. Kids dress up and food gifts are distributed to family and friends. People are very joyous and its common to see lots of singing and dancing in the streets. It’s customary to drink lots of wine on Purim. It is also a day of giving a lot of money to charity. Everywhere in the world, including most of Israel, Purim began at sundown on Saturday night and ends after sundown on Sunday night....

The German computer security expert who first reported that the Stuxnet worm was designed to attack targets in Iran said the virus specifically attacked the country's nuclear program, in a report posted Friday. In his analysis, Ralph Langner said Stuxnet contained two distinct "digital warheads," specifically designed to attack military targets: Uranium enrichment plants and the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Langner said that the portion of the worm that targeted Uranium enrichment plants manipulated the speeds of mechanical parts in the enrichment process, which would ultimately "result in cracking the rotor, thereby destroying the centrifuge." He said the strategic importance...

Today in Rabbis Say the Darndest Things, Ari Schvat ruled that female Mossad agents may engage in “honey-pot sex”—I had never heard the phrase before either—as part of their missions. Which is to say, they can sleep with men as part of their espionage. Among other things, Schvat cited Biblical precedent: Esther slept with the Persian king to save the Jews (though weren’t they married anyway?), and apparently Yael slept with the enemy of her husband in order to tire him out so that his head could be more easily chopped off (Book of Judges, yo).

Deep inside the computer worm that some specialists suspect is aimed at slowing Iran’s race for a nuclear weapon lies what could be a fleeting reference to the Book of Esther, the Old Testament tale in which the Jews pre-empt a Persian plot to destroy them. That use of the word “Myrtus” — which can be read as an allusion to Esther — to name a file inside the code is one of several murky clues that have emerged as computer experts try to trace the origin and purpose of the rogue Stuxnet program, which seeks out a specific kind...

Deep inside the computer worm that some specialists suspect is aimed at slowing Iran’s race for a nuclear weapon lies what could be a fleeting reference to the Book of Esther, the Old Testament tale in which the Jews pre-empt a Persian plot to destroy them. That use of the word “Myrtus” — which can be read as an allusion to Esther — to name a file inside the code is one of several murky clues that have emerged as computer experts try to trace the origin and purpose of the rogue Stuxnet program, which seeks out a specific kind...

Deep inside the computer worm that some specialists suspect is aimed at slowing Iran’s race for a nuclear weapon lies what could be a fleeting reference to the Book of Esther, the Old Testament tale in which the Jews pre-empt a Persian plot to destroy them. That use of the word “Myrtus” — which can be read as an allusion to Esther — to name a file inside the code is one of several murky clues that have emerged as computer experts try to trace the origin and purpose of the rogue Stuxnet program, which seeks out a specific kind...

Where was Sarah Palin last Friday night, before coming to Washington to speak at the Glenn Beck gathering Saturday? She was a guest speaker at a Jewish "Shabbaton"—a Sabbath gathering for prayer, meals, songs, study and conversation—in Hershey, PA. Benyamin Korn's account of it in the New York Sun is a must read. Here are a few highlights: By evening, the halls of the Hershey Lodge were filled with the aroma of chulent, the traditional Sabbath stew....My colleague Sheya, director of PalinTV, presented Mrs. Palin with the ArtScroll edition of Perek Shira, a commentary on the song of celebration sung...

VANCOUVER, Wash. – A bizarre attack sent a Vancouver woman to the hospital on Monday and police said they believe her attacker threw some kind of acid in her face. Bethany Storro had no idea who the woman was who attacked her and no idea why someone picked her for an attack. Storro, 28, doesn’t usually wear sunglasses but she bought a pair about an hour before the attack. Those glasses may have saved her eyesight. She had stopped to get a coffee at a Starbucks near Esther Short Park at 8th and Columbia and was getting something out...

One of the Bible's great statements about courage comes in chapter 5 of Esther. The Jewish queen of Persia has told Uncle Mordecai that she can't go before the king: If she does, she'll probably die. Mordecai responds with admonition—you won't escape by hiding—and then a line that has sent chills down my spine: "Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" For such a time as this.In every generation moments of truth arise. Esther, early Christian martyrs, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and many more throughout the centuries have faced life-or-death decisions. In this...

I wrote this a year ago, and it seems worth repeating. Tonight we Jews read the Book of Esther, and we celebrate the battle our ancestors won against the antisemites in Persia more than two thousand years ago. It could not come at a more appropriate time, as Benjamin Netanyahu organizes an Israeli Government whose main task is the protection of the Jews against antisemites in Persia. Again. Anyone who wants to learn more about the Book of Esther–and its signal importance in the history of political thought–should read Yoram Hazony’s The Dawn. It is one of those stories that...

Miss California gets backing of lawmaker ... from Alabama Christians to beauty queen: 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant' While many in Hollywood ridicule her, scores of Americans are now applauding Miss California's stance against same-sex marriage – including one Alabama lawmaker who drafted a resolution supporting her.

APRIL 10, 2009 The Freedom to Choose a New Faith By ASHLEY SAMELSON At tomorrow's Easter Vigil, I and hundreds of thousands of other catechumens around the world -- converting from other churches and faiths -- will be baptized, confirmed and received into the Catholic Church. Each of us is invited to take the name of a saint or other biblical figure as our confirmation, or "Christian," name. This name represents a biblical or Christian historical figure of particular meaning to the convert's faith and prayer life. I will take the name Esther. Esther, one of the Bible's daredevils. As...

President John F. Kennedy once quipped that he was merely “the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.” This week, Barack Obama might find out how he felt. The first couple’s trip to Europe Tuesday takes Michelle Obama to a land that likes her husband but seems positively fascinated by her. The British press in particular has followed Michelle Obama’s every move breathlessly, from her dresses to the “kitchen garden” behind the White House. One London paper tracked down her high-school prom date. Another asked plaintively, “Why Doesn’t the UK Have a Michelle Obama?” So while the president has to...

A few months ago, the normally hostile Iranian regime took the rather unusual step of adding a Jewish holy site to its National Heritage List. On December 9, 2008, Iranian news outlets reported that the tomb of Mordechai and Esther, the heroes of the Purim saga, would now be under official government protection and responsibility. The purported tomb of Mordechai and Esther in Iran. Photo: Courtesy The move cast a brief spotlight on the site, which is well-known to Iranian Jews but largely unfamiliar to those outside the country. And with Purim being celebrated this week, it is worth taking...

The head of the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Office has announced that the tomb of Esther and Mordecai has been added to the country's list of national monuments. Asadollah Bayat told the Iranian news service that the ancient tomb is an important Jewish shrine and one of the most historically important buildings in the Hamedan province of Iran. The monument bears Hebrew inscriptions, both on the plaster wall of the main hall as well as on the finely worked wooden tomb boxes. Bayat stressed the monument's importance to the Jewish community, adding that "Jews gather here in the...

This past Tuesday, the McCain/Palin Bus came through a little town called, Lebanon, Ohio. The LORD allowed me to go to the Rally giving them a message that He wanted personally delivered. [snip]It was at this moment that Sarah Palin reached out for me to help her up and as I was assisting her to stand I was now face to face with her and GOD said, 'Open up your Mouth and I will fill it.' Here is what came out... 'God wants you to know that you are a present day Esther! [She immediately began to cry]! God wants...

Discuss among yourselves.