ב"ה
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Friday, April 16, 2027

Halachic Times (Zmanim)
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Jewish History

Following his 180 day feast for all his international subjects, which ended a day earlier, King Achashverosh began a seven-day feast for his subjects living in Shushan, his capital. This feast ended with the death of his queen, Vashti.

Link: Esther ch. 1

R. Aryeh Levin, known as the “tzaddik [saint] of Jerusalem,” was legendary for his selfless dedication in assisting his fellow Jews, whether the sick, the poor, or those suffering under the British regime during the Mandate of Palestine (1920–1948).

Links: The Man Who Mistook His Wife’s Foot for His Own; The Value of Stories

Laws and Customs

In today's "Nasi" reading (see "Nasi of the Day" in Nissan 1), we read of the gift bought by the nasi of the tribe of Benjamin, Avidan ben Gidoni, for the inauguration of the Mishkan.

Text of today's Nasi in Hebrew and English.

Daily Thought

There are three ways to bring unity between two opposites:

One

Introduce a power that transcends them both, and to which they both utterly surrender their entire being.

Externally, they now seem at peace with one other, because they are both under the influence of the same force.

But they themselves know that they are not truly at peace, and that such peace cannot endure, because their own being is simply ignored.

Two

Find a middle ground where the two meet.

The two are now at peace, but only on that middle ground

The rest of their territory remains apart, distant, without room for the other.

Three

Reach deeper, into the very essence of the two beings, and discover that at this point, in every aspect, they are no more than two expressions of the same one G-d.