- For last year's Purim page and some links, click here.
- I just published a new podcast about Simcha (joy). There's another Purim podcast from last year, it's not quite as good but I left it up if you're interested.
- "Purim Torah" is the term for Jewish spoof and satire concocted around the holiday, usually drawing in current or topical things in some way. The best I've seen this year is from the Purim Torah edition of the Forward -- the return of prophecy via Twitter. (Some of the other bits there I thought weren't funny or in somewhat poor taste.)
- A good rousing feminist Purim a capella anthem by my friend and colleague Rabbi Rayzel Raphael, courtesy of Lilith Magazine.
- Here's another feminist perspective with a new ritual proposal.
- How about a Jungian perspective on masks:
Carl Jung said that, ‘The persona is that which in
reality one is not, but which oneself as well as others think one is."
Robert Johnson refers to the persona as our "psychological clothing."
The persona refers to that aspect of the ego that we present to the world for
its approval. It is like a mask and we can hide behind it.
The word "persona" comes from the Greek word for the large masks that early Greek actors would use to portray their characters. With audiences in the big Greek amphitheater the nuances of performances could easily be lost. The primary function of the mask was not to hide the actor but give information about the character. The persona is the mask or role that a person plays in society. While it gives information it can be used to hide the ego.
As
a social role the concept of the persona is useful in allowing an individual to
move in and out of relationships without being too vulnerable. A persona can be
the oil to ease potential social friction. A persona provides for some
predictability of relationship. For example, the personas of doctor and patient
or of student and teacher can be useful in knowing what to do, when, and where.
Other examples of the persona are: mother, father, husband, wife, lawyer,
judge, policeman, baker. A persona becomes a problem only when a person becomes
too attached to it and can not put it aside. For example, when someone who is a
judge is a "judge" all the time at work and at home. Or perhaps, a
teacher who is in her role all the time. When a person cannot move flexibly
between roles then the persona not only hides the person from others but also
from himself. It is difficult for such a person to have appropriate
self-knowledge.
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