This week, Jews across the world, even in Israel under a siege of missiles from Iran, celebrated Purim with parties and reading of the Book of Esther. This holiday in particular finds room for both gravity and lightness. The ironic plot twists and departure from seriousness through Purim shpiels, costumes and partying are designed for the release of long-held stress, particularly for a minority people with a history of persecution.
To turn from ancient Persia to our time, the news is full of the gravity of war, and yet some are celebrating, as a long-feared enemy has been killed. It is hard not to feel relief at the defeat of a man who has reigned brutally over the people of Iran and who has both threatened war on Israel and supported terrorism against it. Nonetheless, over and over, we learn that such relief is fleeting without systemic change, and that, in reality, stories like the Book of Esther end not with peace but in a cycle of ongoing violence and revenge.
This Shabbat we read of the Golden Calf, an idol built by a despairing people as a substitute for an intangible God, or perhaps for Moses, who is away from the people at length. We see the challenge to keep a longer view than what is immediately in front of us. On this point, let me share the voice of my colleague Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. She writes, “At the end of the Purim story…Esther calls on the king to annul his decree to destroy the Jews. The king claims that once a king’s decree has been issued, it cannot be revoked. Instead, the king issues a new edict, allowing the Jews to rise up and fight to defend themselves. The Jews do so, protecting themselves but killing 75,000 others in the process.
“The king’s response to Esther displays a complete and tragic failure of moral imagination. He cannot envision a different possibility, in which the safety of one people or another is not a zero-sum game. Likewise, today’s leaders fail us again and again with their inability to envision a future that isn’t dependent on violence and dominance.
“The only way out of this cycle is to come together across difference to imagine that different path together and build it.” The full text of Rabbi Jacobs’ statement is here:
I share this statement not because I think we must all agree on particular policies, or even on when violence should be considered right or wrong, but because when lives are at stake, it is a Jewish imperative to make such assessments with our best judgment, and this is part of that conversation.
With prayers for peace for the Israelis, Palestinians, Iranians and all those in other countries endangered by this war, and sympathy for the families of those lost.
Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Julie
Ki Tissa (Exodus 30:11-34:35) Torah Reading Mar. 7, 2026: Reflecting on Purim and War
March 10, 2026 by Rabbi Julie Saxe-Taller • D'var Torah
This week, Jews across the world, even in Israel under a siege of missiles from Iran, celebrated Purim with parties and reading of the Book of Esther. This holiday in particular finds room for both gravity and lightness. The ironic plot twists and departure from seriousness through Purim shpiels, costumes and partying are designed for the release of long-held stress, particularly for a minority people with a history of persecution.
To turn from ancient Persia to our time, the news is full of the gravity of war, and yet some are celebrating, as a long-feared enemy has been killed. It is hard not to feel relief at the defeat of a man who has reigned brutally over the people of Iran and who has both threatened war on Israel and supported terrorism against it. Nonetheless, over and over, we learn that such relief is fleeting without systemic change, and that, in reality, stories like the Book of Esther end not with peace but in a cycle of ongoing violence and revenge.
This Shabbat we read of the Golden Calf, an idol built by a despairing people as a substitute for an intangible God, or perhaps for Moses, who is away from the people at length. We see the challenge to keep a longer view than what is immediately in front of us. On this point, let me share the voice of my colleague Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. She writes, “At the end of the Purim story…Esther calls on the king to annul his decree to destroy the Jews. The king claims that once a king’s decree has been issued, it cannot be revoked. Instead, the king issues a new edict, allowing the Jews to rise up and fight to defend themselves. The Jews do so, protecting themselves but killing 75,000 others in the process.
“The king’s response to Esther displays a complete and tragic failure of moral imagination. He cannot envision a different possibility, in which the safety of one people or another is not a zero-sum game. Likewise, today’s leaders fail us again and again with their inability to envision a future that isn’t dependent on violence and dominance.
“The only way out of this cycle is to come together across difference to imagine that different path together and build it.” The full text of Rabbi Jacobs’ statement is here:
I share this statement not because I think we must all agree on particular policies, or even on when violence should be considered right or wrong, but because when lives are at stake, it is a Jewish imperative to make such assessments with our best judgment, and this is part of that conversation.
With prayers for peace for the Israelis, Palestinians, Iranians and all those in other countries endangered by this war, and sympathy for the families of those lost.
Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Julie