The Talmud proposes that on Purim we enter a state of mind in which we no longer know the difference between the goodness of Mordechai and the evil of Haman. At a key moment in the Megillah, when the fate of the Jews seems to lie in the balance, Mordechai proclaims to Esther not-so-emphatically “Who knows? Perhaps it’s for a time like that that you have arrived at royal power.” What might the Purim story, its midrashim, and the practices of Purim teach us about moral certainty and uncertainty in a world with few moral anchors, where knowledge is unstable? Are moral certainties and moral clarity the same thing? What lessons can we draw for the world of 2024 and after October 7?
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Source sheet referred to in the session: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/552507?lang=bi
Thank you to Valley Beit Midrash for hosting this session!