it's purim today. a non-Jew asked me, "Is it the Jewish Halloween?" I wasn't quite sure what to answer and said, "It's called Purim." What I should have said was, "No resemblance to Halloween! This is our holiday Purim!"

All the things that happen in life are not by coincidence. I am thankful to be around people who are proud to be Jewish. I adhere the the full part of the glass of water. To have good health for me and my family and all of my dear friends is the best gift that g-d gives to us. Be proud to be a Jew and show it.

thank you for a commentary that is so personally meaningful to me, this day. I just watched on line, the sixty minutes segment of the meticulous archives we did not know the Nazis had kept and it is with such a burden of sorrow that I am writing and such feelings. I needed to hear what you had to say, this day, and yes, the story of Purim, and I see the word PURI ty in the word Purim, because for me, language is so deconstructing, across all languages, well, I needed to hear, from another, that there are "no coincidences". Yes, there are no coincidences but there is surely an astonishment of story, and this is what we relate to, the Aha! the Wow! experience of this story of Purim and all "coincidences". It is said that synchronicity is the connect between mind and matter. Whose mind? I feel, on a cosmic level that surely it is the mind of the Creator, and that these connects are a part of the miracle that is about all of our lives. It's a pure day here in Newton. The air has such clarity, such bit of cold, and the snow that has fallen is everywhere a blanket of such white, such a purity of white, that sparkles like so many diamonds in the sunlight, this morning. And yet, I am in such mourning, being thrust into this, having just watched this terrible video about something "we surely know" happened. And how poignant it was, to hear a survivor, who was brought to these archives, as one of the first, to say, "Now people will believe this happened. This is proof." There has always been proof. Since God is pulling these strings, and I am clutching metaphorically Miriam's red string, which I have heard has Kabalistic significance, then I am saying, we don't see the whole story. Perhaps we all came back. I feel it, especially, this day. thank you again, for bringing such a beauty of expression to this holiday and such a depth of thinking to these pages. Ruth

The way G-d appears in the megillah is similar to the way Alfred Hitchock appears in some of his movies: Sitting on a park bench, his face concealed by the newspaper he is reading. Let's not forget who The Director is.

One of the things I like best about Purim is the grogger, where when you sound it, it wards off "the enemy" like Hamen. With missionaries, in particular, attempt to sway our Jewish convictions, I'd suggest sound the grogger for that, and maybe a good arts and craft item to sell during a Judaica sale during Purim would be a box with a grogger in it that could say "In case of missionaries: Sound grogger", or, "In case of Hamen: Sound grogger" - it's much like how in apartment and commercial buildings how there is a box that says, "In case of fire: Break glass". As for the box I've suggested for Purim, it could be more fun, or better yet, defending our solidarity for our Judaism.

great comforting messaging. When we understand that the events in our lives are puzzle pieces that all come together, it comforts us and helps us get through it.