וַיַּעֲבֹר, מָרְדֳּכָי; וַיַּעַשׂ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר-צִוְּתָה עָלָיו אֶסְתֵּר. וַיְהִי בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי, וַתִּלְבַּשׁ אֶסְתֵּר מַלְכוּת, וַתַּעֲמֹד בַּחֲצַר בֵּית-הַמֶּלֶךְ הַפְּנִימִית “So Mordechai went about [the city] and did just as Esther had commanded him. On the third day, Esther donned her stateliness and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace…” —Esther 4:17-5:1 The Book of Esther, among many pleasant surprises, showcases remarkable transformations—not only for the title character, Esther, but also for her uncle, Mordechai. Throughout the first chapters of the book, Mordechai directs the action. He enters Esther into the beauty contest. He discovers the plot of Bigtan and Teresh and reports it to the king. He even pressures the newly-crowned Queen Esther, into acting on behalf of the Jews. However, once Esther assents to his demands, custody of the Jews’ fate quickly transfers from Mordechai’s hands to hers. She devises a plan, commands her uncle to play his part, [...]

!זָכוֹר אֵת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂה לְךָ עֲמָלֵק... תִּמְחֶה אֶת־זֵכֶר עֲמָלֵק מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם לֹא תִּשְׁכָּח “Remember what Amalek did to you… You must erase the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. Do not forget!” —Deuteronomy 25:17-19 These verses rest at the center of Shabbat Zachor—the Shabbat before Purim—which we dedicate to remembering the sneak attack upon the Israelites perpetrated by Amalek, shortly after our people’s deliverance from Egypt. The timing of this ritual stems from Haman’s Amalekite ancestry, as the Book of Esther describes him as an Agagite (Agag is mentioned as King of the Amalekites in the first book of Samuel). The command here in Deuteronomy poses a significant challenge. How does one blot out the memory of another while simultaneously memorializing their treachery? Frequently, we associate crimes with their perpetrators, which can make acts of malice feel more remote than they should. Once we have identified a transgressor—be it the [...]

This Shabbat, Jews throughout the world read Vayikra, the first chapters in the Book of Leviticus. Beginning with verbose descriptions of sacrificial offerings, followed by descriptions of daily life for priests, then the measures undertaken by the community to achieve holiness, and finally a series of laws designed to govern life in the community, Leviticus can easily seem impenetrable to the modern reader. After all, the entire first half of the book addresses ritual sacrifice, which is no longer part of Jewish practice (and thankfully so!). Nevertheless, our ancestors’ now-outdated method for communicating with God imparts a pivotal lesson that often seems missing from modern religious dialogue. In order to cultivate a relationship with the Divine, we must give up something precious. We must sacrifice. For our ancestors, these sacrifices came from their prized herds and flocks. For the modern Jew, these sacrifices come from our most precious resource of all—time. [...]