by Rabbi Kalman Packouz
GOOD MORNING! Purim is coming up this week! It is celebrated Thursday evening, March 20th and Friday, March 21st everywhere in the world - except in cities that were walled cities in the time of Joshua. In those cities, like Jerusalem, Purim is observed this year for 3 days - from Thursday though Sunday!
Purim is the holiday that reminds us that God runs the world behind the scenes. Nowhere in the Megillas Esther is the name of God mentioned, though there is a tradition that every time the words "the King" are used it also refers to the Almighty.
Megillas Esther is a book full of suspense and intrigue with a very satisfying ending - the Jewish people are saved from destruction! I highly recommend the book Turnabout - it has an English translation of the Megillah (literally: scroll) as well as a rendition of the Purim story incorporating the commentary of the Malbim (available at your local Jewish bookstore, at http://www.judaicaenterprises.com or by calling toll-free to 877-758-3242).
Purim is preceded by the Fast of Esther on Thursday, March 20th, commemorating the three day Fast of Esther and the Jewish people before she approached King ...   more »

The mother of one of the eight Jews killed by a "Palestinian" terrorist on March 6 Thursday bemoaned the state of the Israeli leadership.
According to the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, Rivkah Moriah, in mourning for her 16-year-old son Avraham, said:
"I feel we're now a nation of confused sheep without the level of shepherding that we need. Some of our spiritual leaders are great people. Our political leaders, I feel such pain when I see the distance between what we need and what we have."
Moriah expressed the hope that because the attack was aimed at Torah-observant Jews, the national reaction might include non-religious Jews being led to turn back to the Bible.
She supported a decision of the Israeli Foreign Ministry to use bloody photographs from the massacre scene to raise international awareness of the terrorism Israelis are suffering from.
Original Source
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