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March 14, 2025

When the Portuguese Haman Threatened the Jews of Brazil

A Purim-themed poem from the first rabbi of the New World.

Perhaps more than any other biblical book, Jews have time and again throughout history seen their own experiences through the prism of the book of Esther. Stuart Halpern presents the example of Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, a Dutch-born, Amsterdam-raised and -educated rabbi who in 1642 took a position in the city of Recife in northeastern Brazil. Dutch Jews flocked to this colony after the Netherlands won it from Portugal, and were joined by local descendants of conversos who seized the opportunity to return to Judaism:

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March 14, 2025

  1. The Purim Libel Returns, This Time from the Pens of Jews

    Fetishizing powerlessness.

  2. When the Portuguese Haman Threatened the Jews of Brazil

    A Purim-themed poem from the first rabbi of the New World.

  3. The Exquisite Artwork, Jewish and Gentile, Inspired by the Book of Esther

    Esther in the Age of Rembrandt.

  4. The Poetic Art of the Purim Shpil

    “Our heads are full to the brim with our thinking/ Just as the King runneth over with drinking.”

  5. Rare Purim Photos from the Land of Israel in the 1920s

    A sailor, a citrus tree, and other costumes.