Rabbi Knopf's Blog

The Talmud teaches that 30 days before Passover, we should start learning about the holiday and its meaning. In that spirit, I humbly offer "30 Days of Liberation." For each of the next 30 days, I will offer a brief message drawn from the wisdom of Passover. I hope you find these messages meaningful and inspiring. Feel free to share/forward.

30 Days of Liberation: Day 2
Why must Purim and Passover always be connected? Perhaps because Purim is a story of patriarchy: Ahasuerus marries, Vashti, a powerful royal woman. After consolidating power by ingratiating himself to the Persian noblemen, he demands Vashti obey him or face banishment. After capturing and forcing hundreds of women into a life of sexual servitude, Ahasuerus marries a smart, strong Jewish woman, Esther. Queen Esther is the story’s hero, but she never challenges the fundamental power structure. The story has a happy ending for the Jews, but the stage is still set the same as it was at story’s beginning. The Passover story, on the other hand, holds up a different model: courageous women undermine and dismantle the brutal existing order. In the end, the stage is radically reset. Pharaoh’s dominion, with its male-dominated hierarchy, ends and God’s begins. And under Divine rule, full equality is finally possible. Purim represents the reality and brutality of the existing patriarchal order. Passover represents the possibility of its being resisted, dismantled, and replaced with true equality. We connect the two holidays to remind us where we are, and where we are called to be.

 Click here to watch video of Rabbi Knopf's Invocation for the Virginia House of Delegates on February 23, 2018

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