kosher bookworm

Purim Eternal postscript

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Last week’s Kosher Bookworm featured an excerpt from a new book by Rabbi Avi Feiner of Lawrence, “Purim Eternal: Inspiration and Depth” (Mosaica Press, 2019). This week, in an online interview, Rabbi Feiner explains why he wrote the book.

“I decided to write this sefer for the following reasons:

“1) When you even mention the word ‘Purim’ to most people, it puts a smile on their faces. There is such an extreme element of simcha on Purim that expands even to the rest of the month of Adar — as we see from the Talmudic statement, ‘Mishenichnas Adar marbim b’simcha.’ These divrei Torah bring simcha to my heart and I truly hope they can bring simcha to your hearts.

“2) Related to (and perhaps the cause of) the centrality of simcha on Purim is the concept of nitzchiyus (eternity). The miracles of Purim are a testament to the eternal nature of Klal Yisrael. Purim, according to Chazal, and as codified by the Rambam, will exist eternally. This concept pervades the day of Purim and allows us to experience a deep connection to Hashem and His eternal world in a way that can be transformative. Some of the divrei Torah in the sefer are intended to bring out this idea, which will hopefully allow the reader to reflect and connect in a deeper way to this amazing day (and month).

“3) There is an abundance of sefarim in Hebrew that provide insight into the machshava of Purim and into the mitzvos of the day. However, I have not found many sefarim of that nature written in English. The sefer is divided into 26 essays (in addition to my brother, Rav Eytan Feiner’s, excellent introductory essay) that can be read independently of one another, each focused on a different facet of Purim. I tried to choose topics and express ideas that have relevance throughout the year, not only on Purim.”