AOHE

Purim

Two birds wishing one another happy Purim from different perches in a tree.

One of the holidays that we will be celebrating in March is the Holiday of Purim. Purim is from the Hebrew Word for "lots" (see Esther 3:7; 9:20-22). Purim is a holiday that commemorates the time when God delivered the people of Israel from the evil plot of Haman, an Haman was the royal vizier to Persian king Ahasuerus, who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed...

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Only One God

The hand of God reaching down to touch the hand of man, symbolizing the creation of Adam.

While watching news reports on the heart-wrenching situation in Turkey, I was continually amazed at the reporter’s distortion of the reactions of the people upon recovery of trapped victims. You could hear the men yelling in unison praise to Allah; then the reporter says they all praise God for the recovery. What?...

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Understanding Key Jewish Beliefs

A multicolored menorah.

It is important to understand the foundation of what Jewish people believe today. There is no single answer. The term dogma, which is much better applied to Christianity, has little place within Judaism. In Judaism, the need for a profession of belief did not arise, and rabbis saw no necessity for drawing up concise formulas stressing Jewish beliefs and faith...

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