Tanya White on What Purim Really Means
What if the holiday that looks the most like a carnival is actually hiding the most profound questions in Judaism? Professor Tanya White, Bar-Ilan University professor, host of the Books and Beyond podcast, and one of the most engaging Jewish educators alive, joins Jay and ChayaLeah to unpack the Book of Esther like you've never heard before.
We explore why God's name doesn't appear once in the Megillah (and what that means for us today), the concept of "radical seeing" and the stunning parallel between Purim and our post-October 7th world.
ChayaLeah opens up about Esther's loneliness and sacrifice, Jay brings a story about a Cold War spy finding God in his daughter's ear, and Tanya shares an "invisible string" that will genuinely move you. This is the Purim episode you didn't know you needed.
Where to find Tanya-
Books & articles we discussed-
The Invisible String by Patrice Karst: the children’s book Tanya shares the beautiful “invisible string” story from
Why Grow Up? by Susan Neiman: philosopher’s book on the problem of evil that Tanya references in discussing adversity and resilience
Rav Soloveitchik’s concept of “fate to destiny”: consider linking to Kol Dodi Dofek or a summary essay
God in Search of Man by Abraham Joshua Heschel: Heschel’s concept of “radical amazement”
Witness by Whitaker Chambers: his memoir is where the famous “daughter’s ear” moment comes from
Just what I needed to get inspired about Purim. Deep wisdom I think I will listen to again.