Living Through the Book of Esther

Jewish attention is currently focused on Passover, which begins on Wednesday night, but these next few days aren’t simply the run-up to the holiday. The current phase of the Jewish calendar can also be seen as the interval between Purim and Passover, two festivals that juxtapose parallel, contrasting tales of miraculous salvation. On Passover, we commemorate the miracles by reading a Haggadah, a telling or narration. By contrast, the book of Esther, which contains the Purim story, refers to itself as both a sefer (book or scroll) and an iggeret (letter). Meir Soloveichik reflects on the meaning of these two terms, and the timing of the holiday this year: