The Purim Code

On 1 October 1946, after 216 court sessions, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg delivered its verdicts sentencing the leaders of the Nazi party to death by hanging. The author of the following account, Kingsbury Smith of the International News Service, was chosen by lot to represent the American press at the execution of ten of those leaders.

NurembergGaol, Germany
16 October 1946
International News Service

…Julius Streicher made his melodramatic appearance at 2:12 a.m.

While his manacles were being removed and his bare hands bound, this ugly, dwarfish little man, wearing a threadbare suit and a well-worn bluish shirt buttoned to the neck but without a tie (he was notorious during his days of power for his flashy dress), glanced at the three wooden scaffolds rising menacingly in front of him. Then he glanced around the room, his eyes resting momentarily upon the small group of witnesses. By this time, his hands were tied securely behind his back. Two guards, one on each arm, directed him to Number One gallows on the left of the entrance. He walked steadily the six feet to the first wooden step but his face was twitching.

As the guards stopped him at the bottom of the steps for identification formality he uttered his piercing scream: 'Heil Hitler!'

The shriek sent a shiver down my back.

As its echo died away an American colonel standing by the steps said sharply, 'Ask the man his name.' In response to the interpreter's query Streicher shouted, 'You know my name well.'

The interpreter repeated his request and the condemned man yelled, 'Julius Streicher.'

As he reached the platform Streicher cried out, 'Now it goes to G-d.' He was pushed the last two steps to the mortal spot beneath the hangman's rope. The rope was being held back against a wooden rail by the hangman.

Streicher was swung suddenly to face the witnesses and glared at them. Suddenly he screamed, 'Purim Fest 1946.' [Purim is a Jewish holiday celebrated in the spring, commemorating the execution of Haman, ancient persecutor of the Jews described in the Old Testament]…

Streicher had been a Nazi since early in the movement’s history. He was the editor and publisher of the anti-Semitic newspaper "Das Strummer." In May of 1924 Streicher wrote and published an article on Purim titled "Das Purimfest" (The Festival of Purim). In order to publish his vitriolic attack Streicher must have had a good deal of knowledge about Jewish thought and practice. However we can only speculate to what extent he was aware of the remarkable parallels between Haman and his own execution. However, they are indeed striking:

“And the king said to Esther the queen, ‘The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the capital, and the ten sons of Haman...Now whatever your petition, it shall be granted; whatever your request further, it shall be done.’

Then said Esther, ‘If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews that are in Shushan to do tomorrow also as this day, and let Haman's ten sons be hangedupon the gallows.’ ” (Esther 9:12-14)

If Haman’s ten sons had already been killed, how could they hanged?

Our Sages comment on the word “tomorrow" in Esther's request: "There is a tomorrow that is now, and a tomorrow which is later." (Tanchuma, Bo 13 and Rashi, Shemot 13:14).

In the Megilla, the names of Haman’s ten sons are written very large and in two columns. This is in distinct contrast to the style of the rest of the Megilla. The left-hand column contains the word v'et (and) ten times. According to our Sages the word v'et is used to denote replication. The inference is that another ten people were hanged in addition to Haman's ten sons.

If we examine the list of Haman's sons three letters are written smaller: the taf ofParshandata, the shin of Parmashta and the zayin of Vizata.

Those three letters together form taf-shin-zayin, the last three numbers of the Jewish year 5707, which corresponds to the secular year 1946, the year that those ten Nazi criminals were executed.

The Nuremberg trials were a military tribunal and thus the method of execution was usually by firing squad. The court, however, prescribed hanging. Esther’s request "Let Haman's ten sons be hanged" echoes down the ages,

Equally uncanny is that the date of the execution (October 16, 1946) fell on "Hoshana Rabba" (21 Tishrei), the day on which G-d seals the verdicts of Rosh Hashana for the coming year.

As the Megilla recounts, a decree that the king has sealed cannot be rescinded, and thus Achashverosh had to promulgate a second decree to allow the Jewish People to defend themselves. In other words, that first decree was never nullified.

Our Sages teach us that eventually the Jewish People will return to G-d either voluntarily, or if not, G-d will raise up another despot whose decrees will be “as severe as Haman” (Sanhedrin 97b).

When we look toward the place of our original encounter with Haman and see the rise of a fanatic whose rhetoric rivals our most vicious enemies, we should remember that history most often repeats itself for those who fail to learn its lessons.

Constant Smile

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For your Purim 2014 pleasure. We present this new video "Constant Smile." It is a Purim Parody based on the Soggy Bottom Boys version of "A Man of Constant Sorrow" from the movie, "O Brother Where art Thou." The lyrics have been changed - from happy-sad blues to happier news! This is a production by Rabbi Tuvia Bolton, Dean of Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim, Author and inspirational speaker. To hear his uniquely original Jewish music visit: www.Facebook/Boltonmusic.com. 
Dan Ben-Hur and Shlomo Zacks appearing with Bolton directed and co-produced the video.

Celebrating Purim in New York 150 Years Ago

Megillas Lester Official Trailer

Megillas Lester is a full length animated feature film depicting the fictional story of Doniel Lesterovitch ("Lester"); a boy whose imagination turns the Purim story upside down. Suddenly finding himself at the feast of King Achashverosh, Lester is ordered to summon queen Vashti to the party...and he inadvertently convinces her to go! With Vashti alive and well, Esther never needs to come to the palace - and that leaves nobody to save the Jews from evil Haman! Follow Lester's hilarious and thrilling adventure as he tries to set his version of the Purim story back on track...

Satmar Shushan Purem Tish - 5773 - 2013 in Williamsburg

Rav Ovadiah with a grandson (or maybe great-grandson) on Purim...

Purim 5773 In Kosov

Bobov Rebbe Shlita Dancing At The Trink Seuda Purim 2013

The "War" Against Purim – The Daily Show Does Dov Hikind

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

  - See more at: http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2013/02/the-war-against-purim-the-daily-show-does-dov-hikind-456.html#sthash.ewB2bgHJ.dpuf

The Maccabeats - Purim Shpiel ft. Barack Obama and Friends

The Shlomones - Good Groggin' Purim 2013

Move Like Graggers Remix (Purim Song) by Temple Israel

Incredible Parallels Between the Purim Story and Nazi Trials

Numerous commentators have noted that there is an uncanny resemblance between the hanging of Haman’s ten sons in the Purim story and the Nuremberg Trials following the Second World War, when 10 Nazis warcriminals were hung for the crimes against humanity that they committed. Additionally, in the Purim story, the Talmud claims that Haman’s daughter committed suicide and thus didn’t need to get killed, while following the Nuremberg Trials, Herman Goring a well known Nazi cross dresser, also committed suicide and thus did not need to get hanged in Nuremberg. In fact, Julius Streicher, the Nazi editor of the anti-semitic Das Strumer newspaper, even proclaimed before he was hung, “Purim Fest 1946.”

Indeed, given all of these facts, it appears as if there is merit to the claim that there is a connection between the Purim story and the Nuremberg Trials. The Tanakh specifically states that Haman, the evil Persian Prime Minister who sought to annihilate the Jewish people, was an Agagite.Agag was the King of the Amalekites, implying that all ten sons of Haman were also part of the Amalek nation. Interestingly, the Vilna Gaon claimed that the Germans are also descendants of Amelek. Simon Dubnow, Arthur Szyk and Raul Hilberg also identified the Nazis, who also sought to eliminate the Jewish people, as being Amalekites. There are also Talmudic passages that mention a nation called Germania during the Roman Diaspora that seem prophetic in retrospect.

Yet, the numbers of people executed in both instances and the fact both the Nazis and Haman’s family are reported to be Amalekites are not the only similarities between the Purim Story and the Nuremberg Trials. According to Dr. Moshe Katz of the Hebrew University, “The ten sons of Haman had already been killed, why bother to hang them? In the writings of the Sages and the commentators, we find several ideas that could clarify this: On the word ‘tomorrow,’ in Esther’s request, the Sages comment: ‘There is a tomorrow that is now, and a tomorrow which is later.’ In other words, Esther was asking that the hanging of Haman’s ten sons not remain an isolated episode in history, but should recur in the future, as well.”

Fascinatingly, if one reads the Purim story in Hebrew, one will find that four Hebrews letters in the Megillat Esther that mention Haman’s sons who were hung utilizes small instead of big letters. Jewish sages have taught throughout the generations that whenever there is a variation in the size of a letter or spelling of a word, it has a specific meaning. Thus, if these four small Hebrew letters are used to represent the Jewish number for recording years, it states the year 5707 on the Jewish calendar. 5707 was the year on the Jewish calendar that the 10 Nazi war criminals were hung for committing genocide against the Jewish people.

As Dr. Moshe Katz proclaimed, “Since the trial was conducted by a military tribunal, the sentence handed down should have been death by firing squad, or by electric chair as practiced in the U.S.A. However, the court specifically prescribed hanging, exactly as in Esther’s original request: ‘. . . let Haman’s ten sons be hanged.’ Though doubts may linger about the connection between the Book of Esther and the Nazi war criminals, the condemned Julius Streicher certainly had none. Through some insight, Streicher appears to have grasped this link to Purim, as revealed by his final shout, with the noose about his neck, mere seconds before he was hanged.”

Black History Month Presents: The Purim Story

Purim Animated

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Lipa Schmeltzer rocking Moshe Gluck Purim part2

The Masks We Wear, and Don't; Where are we if the smartest, most open Palestinian kids, from the best schools, believe that the Jewish state is going to be a corner of the West Bank? Given that worldview among their best and brightest, what are the genuine prospects for any change for her or for my children, who will, of course, inhabit this region together? DANIEL GORDIS

It's Purim in Jerusalem today, a day of masks, of identities hidden, of a topsyturvy imaginary world. In this region, though, the absurdities we create for Purim can sometimes pale in comparison with the painful realities that will endure long after the holiday.

Each year, I interview a few candidates for a college in the US. Typically, they are either American students in Israel for a gap year or Israelis just out of the army who want to attend an American school.

It was thus without too much curiosity that I opened this year's email with the names and addresses of the two students I was being asked to interview. But then I saw that one of the candidates came from east Jerusalem and the other from Ramallah.

This, I thought, could actually be interesting.

The candidate from Ramallah arrived in the company of her father. Impeccably dressed, speaking almost perfect English devoid of any appreciable accent (she'd lived abroad for a number of years, it turned out), she was smart, inquisitive, affable and interesting. She spoke articulately about how difficult it was to move back to Ramallah in September 2000, just as the intifada was starting.

There were tanks near her house, she told me, and soldiers everywhere. There were curfews and fear - life was very different from what she'd experienced during her years in the West. Then we spoke about the books she was reading, the science and literature she was studying. It took only minutes for me to know that I was going to write her an excellent recommendation.

I could have just thanked her for coming, but her father hadn't yet returned to pick her up, and more importantly, I wanted to ask her about things that really matter.

How often, after all, do I sit down with a bright young woman from Ramallah who attends a first-rate high school (which, she told me, enables exceptional students in Gaza to "attend class" via Skype), reads voraciously, is completely at home on the Internet and prides herself on her intellectual openness? How often does she sit with a Jew wearing a kippa, in an office lined with books, talking about whatever interests both of them? For both of us, I imagined, this was a pretty unusual meeting. So I asked her if we could discuss something completely off-topic, with no bearing on what I'd write to the school, and she said it was fine.

"Imagine it's 2032," I told her. "You're not 18, but 38 years old. You're still living in Ramallah, and the situation in this part of the world is more or less what it is now.

The only difference is that you're in charge. You determine Palestinian policy, and can make anything happen. How would you solve this?" She smiled.

"It's complicated," she said, as if I didn't know that. But she then launched into her description of what she would do. Now, though, for the first time in our conversation, I couldn't understand what she was saying. The words were clear, but the ideas weren't. So I decided to press.

"Wait," I said. "First of all, are we talking about one state or two?" "Two," she said, "of course."

"And where you and I are now, in pre- 1967 Israel, this is the Jewish state?" "No," she said.

"No? But there is a Jewish state?" "Of course," she said, "there has to be."

"But where is it?" She continued to explain, but I still didn't understand, so I sketched a basic map of the region, with all the standard markings so we could get to work: On the west, the coast, with a little bump for Haifa. On the east, the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. I drew the Green Line, marked Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Gaza, and said, "OK, so now show me what's where."

The basic principle, she explained to me, is that refugees from both sides have to be permitted to return to their original homes. Basic human rights demand that. So Israel, she said, will have to absorb all the refugees from Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

That, she rightly understood, is a significant number of people. So what is now Israel, she explained, can't be the Jewish state. Instead, it will be a "shared state" of Jews and Palestinians. I chose not to ask her how well she thought those Jews would fare as a minority in such a state - things were getting complicated enough.

"So where is the Jewish state?" I asked her. "Take the pencil and shade in the area."

What she shaded was a portion of the West Bank.

"The Jewish State is now in the West Bank?" I asked her. "Why?" Because, she explained to me, the "settlers" are really refugees. They, too, are returning to their ancestral homelands. It wouldn't be fair to tell them to leave. So the Jewish state will be in the part of the West Bank where there is a concentration of Jews, and the rest of the West Bank will be Palestine.

There was no way to tell her, without being insulting, how utterly absurd her plan was on many levels. As well-read as she was, as much Internet access as she had, she clearly knew virtually nothing about the conflict, its history or the current proposals for how to end it. I was struck that she could be so thoughtful, so earnest, so open and live just a few miles from me, and inhabit an entirely different "reality."

I opted for a bit of a "Hail Mary pass."

September 2000 was also hard on my children, I told her; I even wrote a book about it. If I gave her a copy, would she read it? She assured me that she would, and three days later, I got an email from her with a lengthy response to the book, which she'd clearly read from cover to cover. We exchanged a few more notes, and she asked me to look her up if she gets admitted to that college.

I will. I liked her, and I'll be interested in seeing what four years at an American college does to her views of this small region that we both claim as home.

Weeks later, I continue to ponder that conversation. In some measure, it was encouraging. Two people, from opposing sides of the conflict, could talk, laugh and learn with each other, and even stay in touch beyond. I think she liked me no less than I liked her. There was something refreshing about the whole thing.

But it was somewhat devastating, too.

Where are we if the smartest, most open Palestinian kids, from the best schools, believe that the Jewish state is going to be a corner of the West Bank? Given that worldview among their best and brightest, what are the genuine prospects for any change for her or for my children, who will, of course, inhabit this region together? No need for Purim for confusion to reign, it turns out. Even without masks, it's sometimes hard to imagine who's who, who thinks what, or what's possible. But it's sad, not funny. For when the masks are put away and the hangovers are forgotten, the reality with we're left will be no less absurd than the pretend world we'd delighted in creating.