Learn about the mitzvah of eating, drinking, and rejoicing, and how these everyday activities become extraordinary acts of devotion.

From a radio show on CHIN FM Radio, Toronto.

This in-depth Gemara study of Masechet Megillah focuses on observances connected to the rabbinically ordained joyous festival of Purim. This mini-series opens with a discussion about its observances when a Leap Year includes two months of Adar. A fascinating analysis of this will eventually lead us into the iconic Mitzvah of Mishloach Manot, the Holiday Gifting of Edibles to One Another! _____________________________________ Tractate Megillah, Chapter One, Page 6b - 7a. Episode Three: "SCRIPTED IN THE STARS" As elaborated on in the previous two Episodes, our unique Jewish system of calendric calibration resolves the discrepancy left by 12 lunar months and the solar seasonal year by intercalating an extra [month of] Adar. This is what we call a Leap Year. Our Torah calendar governs many religious observances and rituals, and the extra month of Adar raises a slew of Halachic questions to be solved from Ritual Readings to Holiday Gift Giving. In our previous segment we were introduced to differing schools of Torah on the subjects at hand. Here, in part three of the mini-series, we seek to the identify the sources and jurisprudence for the variances in these Halachik approaches. As it fascinatingly turns out, a precise analysis of the Script in the Scroll of Esther can be understood in both directions! Our Sages will therefore augment that very verse with independently established Torah truisms to arrive at very different conclusions. All of these discussions are, of course, borne of our Jewish Calendar and are directly linked to the Zodiacal Heavenly orbits!

This in-depth Gemara study of Masechet Megillah focuses on observances connected to the rabbinically ordained joyous festival of Purim. This mini-series will open with a discussion about its observances when a Leap Year includes two months of Adar. A fascinating analysis of this will eventually lead us into the iconic Mitzvah of Mishloach Manot, the Holiday Gifting of Edibles to One Another! _____________________________________ Tractate Megillah, Chapter One, Page 6b. Episode Two: "RIGHT TO READ" As we learnt at length in Part One, our Jewish calendar requires a unique system of calendric calibration to balance the Lunar Months with Seasonal Years. Resolution is found in a Leap Year in which a 13th Month is added. This induces years that are pregnant with an extra month of Adar, which naturally births a litter of related Halachic questions about Public Torah Readings, far beyond solving the Mystery of the Megillah. Part Two of this mini-series on Purim observances probes the matter to deliver pragmatic and viable resolution!

This in-depth Gemara study of Masechet Megillah focuses on observances connected to the rabbinically ordained festival of Purim. This mini-series will open with its observance when a Leap Year includes two months of Adar. A fascinating analysis of this will eventually lead us into the iconic Mitzvah of Mishloach Manot, the Holiday Gifting of Edibles to One Another! _____________________________________ Tractate Megillah, Chapter One, Page 6b. Episode One: "LEAP YEAR" Our Jewish calendar – comprised of Lunar Months, and Seasonal Years – requires scheduling calibration and calendric alignment. Adar is the final month in the cycle, so when a 13th Month is added, it’s a second Adar. As Adar is the month in which we celebrate Purim, part one of this Mishloach Manot mini-series opens with an analysis of how the time engineering creates a Halachik question about the Public Reading of the Scroll of Esther. Because typically the observance of Purim is in the twelfth month, we are forced to ask: will the real Adar to please rise!

REDEMPTION SONGS ~ SCROLL OF ESTHER is an in-depth study series of the actual biblical verses comprising Megillat Esther that contains the canonical story of Purim. ___________________________________ Chapter Nine, Part Thirteen entitled: PERSIAN VERSION continues to clarify the opening thrust of the 26th verse of the chapter: why it's called Purim. This new offering opens with a brief review of the climax of the previous Episode: After the literal explanations for this holiday being named for the [random] mechanism used to plot Genocide left us wanting, we turned to mystical, spiritual teachings of Torah to paint a rich new picture of Purim. In this new segment we will move to highlight hues and sharpen resolution. This will enable us to successfully segue into developing a wider panoramic view. Yet, notwithstanding the newfound clarity, one BIG question still lingers: why "Purim" meaning "Lots" in Persian instead of the Hebrew word "Goralot?!" Once again, we will begin with the technical before moving on into a deeper spiritual perspective. The new view will endow us a profound appreciation of why in heaven a Jewish/Hebrew Holiday purposely received a Foreign Name! This Thirteenth Episode of Chapter Nine comprises the fifty-sixth consecutive offering of an ongoing, in-depth discovery series on the biblical Scroll of Esther.

REDEMPTION SONGS ~ SCROLL OF ESTHER is an in-depth study series of the actual biblical verses comprising Megillat Esther that contains the canonical story of Purim. ___________________________________ Chapter Nine, Part Twelve entitled: RANDOM ENCOUNTERS clarifies the first half of verse 26 with a laser focus on the Royal Rhyme and Reason they decided to call it Purim! Naming this Holiday goes far beyond the Lots thrown for date determination. The Random element of this unique Cause and Effect lead us to another major Jewish Holiday so kindred in nature yet observed in exactly the opposite fashion. Much like every proper biblical study; it's the subtleties in the script that enable us to appreciate the historic and spiritual consequences of this entire saga. This fascinating Twelfth Episode of Chapter Nine comprises the fifty-fifth consecutive offering of an ongoing, in-depth discovery series on the biblical Scroll of Esther.

REDEMPTION SONGS ~ SCROLL OF ESTHER is an in-depth study series of the actual biblical verses comprising Megillat Esther that contains the canonical story of Purim. -------------------------------------------------------- Continuing Chapter Nine, Part Eleven entitled: BOOMERANG documents the Queen's Entry into the Fray, the King's Written Word that serves to enforce a whole new reality of Law and Order, or a royal return in the form of a full 360% Back Atcha! When the King was finally did confronted with [his moment of] truth, targets were transposing. The edict -- spoken, scripted and sealed -- unraveled the meticulously woven web of evil and the entire plot turned inside out! He who came to murder was killed instead, and the original Pur-plan-persecution of Jewish genocide royally rebounded, with the story ending in a radically different way. Not by rebellion or defiance -- but rather in full keeping with, and by the Letter of the Law, the Architect of Annihilation is himself Annihilated. Most remarkably, without the scroll laying it out in sequence the entire miracle wouldn't even be noticed! The Eleventh Episode of the Ninth Chapter has been dedicated by Marty and Gail Bergman in loving memory of Gail's late father, Eliyahu ben Avraham Yitzchak. This exceptionally insightful segment comprises the fifty-fourth consecutive offering of an ongoing, in-depth discovery series on the biblical Scroll of Esther.

REDEMPTION SONGS ~ SCROLL OF ESTHER is an in-depth study series of the actual biblical verses comprising Megillat Esther that contains the canonical story of Purim. -------------------------------------------------------- Continuing Chapter Nine, Part Ten entitled: THE HATRED provides the reasoning for the rise of Purim's' prominence and posterity. Delineating the deep and demonic roots of hate we will begin to understand why this unique Holiday came to be, and its seemingly oversized place in Torah-true Judaism. It is here, with the singular focus on Haman, the archenemy of the Nation of Israel, and how he plotted Jewish Genocide that we are enabled to fully appreciate how the commemoration evolved into such a radiant time on the Jewish calendar! By scrolling the history of antisemitic hate, the true motive of Haman's intended mass-murder is revealed. Here, the Megillah presents pre-Purim persecution as an ugly manifestation of in-bred, age-old antisemitism -- not a personal score-settling grudge. Hear how the Purim Plot rivaled and even exceeded Pharaonic Final Solution as these devious decrees were designed to incrementally terrorize, demoralize, devastate to death and then ultimately annihilate the entire Jewish population! This tenth Episode of chapter nine comprises the fifty-third consecutive offering of an ongoing, in-depth discovery series on the biblical Scroll of Esther.