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Today, Jewish people from around the world celebrate the holiday of Purim. Purim commemorates the day in which the Jewish people living in areas controlled by the Persian empire were victorious in fighting against their enemies – those who had plotted to destroy them – and were victorious. The word purim or “lots” in Hebrew refers to the lots which were drawn by the wicked Haman, advisor to King Ahasuerus, to determine the best date to eradicate the Jews on. It was during the period between the destruction of the first Holy Temple and the building of the second Holy...

The Jewish Fast of Tisha B'Av begins tonight at sundown. Like Yom Kippur, it is one of only two full day fasts on the Jewish Calendar. Unlike Yom Kippur, it is a sad, mournful fast.... When Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan, ten of them came back with a report that the land was unconquerable. The fledgling Israeli nation could never defeat those Canaanite Giants, they claimed There were cries throughout the Children of Israel asking Moses to take them back to Egypt. They forgot all about God, and his promise to help us conquer the land. That was the...

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, falls this year on Saturday and on Sunday. Jews traditionally engage in reflection, prayer and in communal religious introspection during this holiday. One year ago this week, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, President George W. Bush exuded a clear, unequivocal appreciation of and commitment to Israel. On that same occasion, President Bush called for a democratic state of Palestine to be created alongside Israel, as a way to foster peace in the Middle East.

Purim is here again. Like its motto, "venahafoch hu", when nothing is quite what it seems to be, Purim represents complexity, confusion and conflict. It was a time of shortsightedness, even blindness, of contradictory options and opinions, of danger and fear, of hopelessness, and finally, of renewed emunah (faith), teshuvah (repentance), salvation and unprecedented joy. Purim may be a joyful, "fun" holiday today, but while it was happening, it was not a fun time at all. And it took a long while to transpire - nine long years of tension and fear from the time of Achashverosh's first banquet until...

The day has been set aside by our sages as a day of commemoration of Bar Kochba's military revolt against the Romans, as well as the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai (both of the 1st-2nd centuries CE), Kabbalist and dissident in Roman-occupied Israel. According to some traditions, Lag Ba'Omer also represents the end of a period of mourning for thousands of students of Rabbi Akiva, who died in a plague at this time of year. Israelis mark the day with community bonfires throughout the country, accompanied by food, play and song. As reported earlier this year, the...

Tu B'Shvat, the New Year for trees, is a time of great festivity. But why? We do not find such celebration on the New Year for vegetables or crops. What is so special about fruit?A distinction between fruit and crops is found at the beginning of the Torah. In the utopia of the Garden of Eden, Adam was instructed that his diet would consist of fruit:"And the Lord, God, commanded man, saying, You shall eat from any tree in the garden." (Genesis, 2:16)When Adam sinned and fell from his lofty spiritual stature, his diet was also reduced to a lower...

Oct. 16, 2003 Vandals destroy Sukkah at Canadian university By MICHAEL FREUND Jewish students at Toronto's York University were stunned earlier this week to discover that vandals had attacked and torn down the campus Sukkah, which had been erected for Sukkot. "The Sukkah is a purely religious symbol", said Zac Kaye, Executive Director of Hillel of Greater Toronto, the campus Jewish organization. "This senseless act of desecration must act as a wake-up call for all members of the university community. Enough is enough." It is believed that the vandals responsible for the destruction of the Sukkah struck twice over the...