Joyous Purim is also serious holiday

Yes, Purim is indeed a serious holiday. Joyous, yes, but serious too. With the leap year commemorative of Purim Katan, the little Purim just observed and now behind us, it is time to start giving attention to Purim itself, to be observed in less than a month.

With that in mind, I bring to your attention the gifted author and lecturer, Rabbi Evan Hoffman, and his wonderful and learned essay, “Purim and the Struggle Between Nationalists and Moderates,” which can be found at http://bit.ly/1UhPxNa.

In a recent interview with Rabbi Hoffman, I inquired as to his intellectual interests.

“Over the past few years my focus has been on the late Second Temple period and the early rabbinic period (200 BCE to 250 CE). I really enjoy examining and researching rabbinic literature as prime source material in the study of Jewish history. It is a very sensitive subject inasmuch as not all passages can be taken at face value or even presumed to be accurate depictions of the past. The key is to understand why the sages, or an individual sage, said what they did in the proper historical and chronological context.”

We later discussed the nature and content of Rabbi Hoffman’s writings and his weekly divrei Torah.

“I began writing a weekly essay five years ago titled, ‘Thoughts on the Parashah,’ as a means of staying connected with my friends who share the same intellectual interest in Torah learning. Over time, my email distribution list has expanded to over 1,500 people both here and in Israel. These essays are not your typical Divrei Torah.

“Most weeks, the essay will address a serious intellectual issue in the study of serious Jewish theology or Jewish history with a tangential connection to the relevant parsha or Jewish holiday. My research takes me beyond the traditional sources, utilizing the writings and biographies of such personages as Josephus, Philo, the Septuagint, the Apocrypha, and other relevant sources. Each week is a new adventure shared with my readers. … I begin researching on Monday, and aim to publish by Thursday night.”