Elijah's Favorite Seder

A great Rabbi finds out that Elijah liked best the simple Seder of a poor man who captured the meaning of Pesach in one heartfelt prayer.

by Rebecca Rubinstein for aish.com

Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, one of the great Hassidic teachers, looked forward to Seder night every year.

One year, after the Seder was over, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak went to sleep, content. He had conducted a great Seder with all his students round the table.

He fell into a deep sleep and dreamt a strange dream.

In the dream, the prophet Elijah is talking with the angels, giving them an account of the Seder he saw in Jewish homes. He describes the kids' excitement as their eyes are glued to the cup for Elijah to see if he came to visit them this year.

One of the angels asks, "But which was the most important Seder that you visited? Was it Rabbi Levi Yitzhak's?"

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Passover 2016

By MJL Staff

Passover 2016 begins Friday evening, April 22, and ends Saturday evening, April 30.

What is Passover?

Passover is a festival of freedom.

It commemorates the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt, and their transition from slavery to freedom. The main ritual of Passover is the seder, which occurs on the first night (or, outside of Israel, the first two nights) of the holiday — a festive meal that involves the re-telling of the Exodus through stories and song and the consumption of ritual foods, including matzah and maror (bitter herbs).




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9 Things You Didn’t Know About Purim

By Julie Wiener for MyJewishLearning.com   

From Esther's vegetarianism to the Jewish leap year, things that might surprise you.

With costumes, spiels and lots of drinking, Purim, which this year starts at sundown on Wednesday, March 23, is one of Judaism’s most raucous holidays. You might know about beautiful Esther thwarting evil Haman’s plans, the custom of getting drunk and what hamantaschen are. But we’re guessing there’s a few things about this holiday that might surprise you.

1. Esther was a vegetarian (or at least a flexitarian).
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QUIZ: What Kind of Hamantaschen Are You?

 Holly Lebowitz Rossi for Kveller

Purim is almost here, which means it’s time for hamantaschen. From dulce de leche, poppy, jam, and nutella–there’s an option for everyone! Which one are you? Find out by taking the quiz below:


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Haman in the Garden of Eden

From AlephBeta

Purim: Redeeming the Sin of Eden

The holiday of Purim seems like a kids’ holiday, full of costumes, fun, and a fairy-tale like story. In this series, Rabbi David Fohrman urges us to take a closer, more grown-up, look at the megillah - beginning with a curious connection between Haman and the Garden of Eden.

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Purim—Not Your Jewish Halloween

By Bnei Baruch Education Center

Purim is a great festival: great fear of annihilation, at first, and great joy after the salvation, at last. The celebrations on this festival are exceptionally great, given the commandment to consume alcohol to the point of inability to tell between wicked Haman and righteous Mordechai.

Purim is also a festival of symbolism. The primary message of the festival is that in the face of the purest evil, portrayed by Haman, even the epitome of good, portrayed by Mordechai, is helpless. The only thing that helps against pure evil is unity. When Mordechai pleads with Esther to beg for the king’s mercy, she says that even she, the queen, cannot save them, unless he, Mordechai, gathers all the Jews and they fast and pray for her. Then, when they are united once again, she endeavors and succeeds.

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The Purim Story

Kveller Staff

Many years ago, the king of Persia was named Ahashverosh. One day he decided to have a feast with all of his friends and advisors. He decided that his queen, Vashti, should come and dance at the feast. Queen Vashti refused. She didn’t want to dance in front of all of the king’s men, or appear before them to demonstrate her beauty. The king was furious and banished Vashti.

As time passed, the king wanted a new queen. He held a beauty contest and invited all of the eligible girls in the kingdom. The winner was Esther, and she became the queen. Esther was Jewish, but her uncle Mordechai, who raised her, warned that it could be dangerous to reveal her religion to the king. In fact, he told her not to tell anyone in the palace that she was Jewish.

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