S3 Ep. 1 The Hidden Angels in the Megillah

Feb 11, 2025

Dive into the hidden depths of the Book of Esther and explore why God's presence seems absent. Uncover intriguing critiques of the narrative's political themes and its moral implications. Discover the significance of minor characters like Harvona, who may be more than they appear. Challenging traditional interpretations, the discussion reveals connections between Esther's story and earlier biblical tales, enriching our understanding of human agency and divine influence in everyday life.

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INSIGHT

Esther Is More Than Hidden Providence

The Book of Esther hides God's name but invites deeper questions about divine presence and moral teaching.
Rabbi David Fohrman argues the Megillah aims to teach practical godliness, not just political drama or covert providence.

INSIGHT

Tanakh Focuses On Our Relationship With God

Tanakh is primarily about our interaction with God rather than God's private world.
Fohrman wants to extract a moral and practical message from Esther about living in connection with God.

INSIGHT

Midrash Begins With A Textual Trigger

Midrashic readings often respond to small textual anomalies or 'triggers' in the biblical text.
Fohrman uses these triggers to show how sages developed larger interpretive claims about Esther.

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The Book of Esther has no Divine instructions, no prophecies, no outright miracles. God doesn't even get mentioned. We all love hearing how Mordechai and Esther saved their people in a time of crisis – but does this story have any moral message for us? As we're listening to the Megillah on Purim, what can we learn about coming close to God in our everyday lives?

Join Imu Shalev and Rabbi David Fohrman as they dive deeply into Megillat Esther to find an answer to this question. They start off with a very odd set of comments from our sages, claiming that there were angels at work in the Esther story. The Megillah doesn't say anything about angels, so what on earth made the rabbis think that? Rabbi Fohrman teases the possibility that these strange angel stories are all pointing to a link between Esther, a narrative from the end of Tanach, and another story all the way back in Genesis. If we explore that connection, we may eventually find the key to the Megillah's moral message.

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Click here for a free copy of Rabbi Fohrman's e-book, "Serpents of Desire: Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden".

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A Book Like No Other is a product of Aleph Beta, and made possible through the generous support of Shari and Nathan Lindenbaum. Aleph Beta is a Torah media company dedicated to spreading the joy and love of meaningful Torah learning worldwide.