Purim Celebration Tips
by Cindi Sutter, Chief Communicator & Editor of Spirited Table®
Our Spirited Table goals include providing you with a rich tapestry of culturally inspired celebrations. Today we share the age old story of Purim and the power of one woman to change the history of her time and beyond. Read more about this woman named Esther. She’s an inspiration for sharing truth, even though it could have cost her life, sharing faith, and bringing hope and joy to the world.
Zehorit Heilicher has shared her Purim priorities with these two posts. Purim: A Celebration for All - A Sweet Tradition. You will find some of what have come to be my favorite pastry recipes!
Now from our friends at chabad.org.
Who Wrote the Book of Esther?
At first glance, it seems simple enough. Open up a Megillah (Book of Esther) and read the following two quotes:
“And Mordechai inscribed these things and sent letters to all the Jews . . .”1
“Now, Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordechai the Jew wrote down all [the acts of] power, to confirm the second Purim letter.”2
The sages understand this to mean that Mordechai and Esther wrote the Book of Esther together.3
But things are not so simple: When listing the authors of the different books of the Bible, the Talmud tells us that the Book of Esther was written by the Anshe Knesset Hagedolah,“Men of the Great Assembly,” a panel of 120 prophets and sages that constituted the ultimate religious authority at the onset of the Second Temple Era in the Land of Israel.4
Now, this council was established in the Holy Land several years after the events of Purim. Why wasn’t the Book of Esther written down immediately? Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi) explains that it needed to be written in the Land of Israel because “prophecy is not to be transcribed and included in the canon of Scripture outside of the Holy Land.”5
So who wrote the Book of Esther?
To find the answer to this and more about Purim, click and read more from our friends at chabad.org.