The videos  are listed individually below:

[from: "Avi Rab" Youtube channel: playlist Kabbalistic meaning of Biblical stories:]

Kabbalistic energy-channels: Tapping into the cyclical spiritual energy of Jewish holidays

Video topics:

*  1: (1.5 minutes): The special energy of a holiday;  the cyclical nature of time, and of its spiritual energy;

* 2:  (3.5 min): The Masked Purim God: Clear but subtle indications of God's relevance in the megillah story; Divine inspiration vs the power of chance + the supernatural/magic; How WE tap in to Purim's special energy.

* 3:  (10.5 min):  Why is the holiday named "Purim"? What's the significance of that in terms of the holiday's special energy? Topic B: "Divine Guidance, Free Willed choice, Teshuva & Morality vs Magic, Fate, randomness, Power-worship & astrology"

*  4:   6 minutes: Joseph and his great-nephew Mordechai: incredible parallels between the Joseph story and Megillat Esther

* 5:  2.5 minutes: "Kabbalistic Astrology: Divine guidance over Fate (illustrated by the Biblical Joseph story)"

* 6:  3 minutes: "Biblical Jewish Metaphysics: aspects illustrated by the Joseph story and the megillah"

* 7: Guide to the Megillah:, chapter by chapter: Suggestions for a reading geared towards "beginners".

See post on FB: https://www.facebook.com/avi.rabinowitz/posts/10159068196320892

Magic, randomness, chance vs divine plan, free will and moral responsibility .

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​The holiday of "Purim" is this coming week. The name means "lots" (ie 'lottery'), after the lot cast by the evil Haman to choose the day to kill all the Jews.

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Surely an inportant military operation should not be executed on some random day emerging from a lottery, and should not be put off a few months just to be on the day chosen by a random toss. So why did Haman use that method? The answer is firstly seen from the story of Jonah, where the sailors correcly determine that he was to blame for the storm, by casting lots. ​So there is a power that was available then to practitioners of this art, and it harnessess the forces of randomness, chaos, chance.

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Megillat Esther (the Biblical Book of Esther) tells us that Haman was a descendant of Agag, in other words from Amalek, who Tradition tells us was known to be a devotee of this power of chance. And so he wanted to destroy the Jewish People, overcoming God's Plan for history, by using this power.

As a result, God enters into that game, and - as we see from the story in the megillah - makes moves which appear as chance, but contribute to the unfolding of an intricate divine Plan, leading to the destruciton of Haman and his forces.

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The megilat Esther is written with divine inspiration, but it refers to a time when God was 'hidden' - due to the separation caused by the Jewish People's transgressions - but as God promise in the Torah , when God is hidden there will nevertheless be a reaching out to bring us back, and so the megillah contains hints to help us understand the deeper messages in this seemingly-non-God-related story.

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It seems like a secular tale since there is no mention of God, God doesn​'​t speak to Mordechai or Esther, however it is clear from their actions and words (watch the video) that both of them were directly influenced by their understanding that God was running events. And even Haman and his wife Vashti were operating at a higher level , albeit a pagan ​'magic' path, so all the major protagonists were engaged in a beyond-the-natural-level struggle​ ​(watch the video for explanation​ of all this​)​: Haman and Vashti were mobilizing the the powers of magic, randomness and chance vs Mordechai and Esther who were appealing to the divine level​, and using the power of fasting, prayer and repentance [note that traditionally the joyous holiday of Purim is so important that the Biblical term "Yom Kippurim" is interpreted homiletically as "like Purim")​ ​.​

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https://www.facebook.com/avi.rabinowitz/posts/10159068196320892

Parallels between Mordechai and Yosef

Note these amazing parallels between the Joseph and Mordechai (Megillat Esther) accounts in the Torah:

1. Joseph got into trouble when the brothers felt he wanted them to bow to him, they refused and decided to kill him - but then sold him as a slave to Egypt, and eventually all the Jews became slaves in Egypt.

Mordechai in the Megillat Esther (account of Purim) got into trouble because he didnt want to bow to Haman, who then decided to kill him - and all the Jews.

2. The brothers indeed ended up bowing to Joseph in Egypt, but the only one who didn't bow that first time was Benjamin (who was absent, and was not part ofthe plot against Joseph), and the one who didn't bow in the Purim story was Benjamin's descendent Mordechai (the Megillah makes a point of telling us Mordechai's ancestry).

3. Mordechai and Joseph are both ridden around in a festive procession, described in detail in the Torah, remarkably similar.

4 . In both stories the central action takes place in a foreigh land where the protagonist was taken as captive,  and in both stories our hero becomes second to the king (Emperor/Pharaoh).

5. In both stories God is not mentioned, but in both the protagonists (Mordechai and Joseph) make it clear via their words that they are relying on God's assistance.

• The overall underlying theme: both stories seem natural, there is no mention of God speaking or acting anywhere in the story, there are no prophecies or visions, yet from the words of the protagonists  as recorded in the story itself, it is clear that they are fully aware of the divine level operating, and the story clearly implies miraculous divine intervention.

• King is perplexed by something, summons his advisors, one suggests what to do (Yosef was just asked for an interp and also offered advice to P;  A openly asked for advice what to do)

• The essential fact of a Jew rising to prominence due to his timely intervention/advice. 

• The protagonist (Esther/Yosef) is taken by force, must serve the king or his ministers; liked by all, they are helped, and rise (Esther by the sarisim, Yosef by the master);.

• Both are unusually beautiful(unusual ‘chen’), and this is part of the plot (Esther is chosen by A, Yosef is solicited/accused by his master’s wife).

• Story is told by an omniscient narrator: We are told of Pharaoh’s emotions (vatipa’em rucho), we are told of the hatered and jealousy of the brothers which is not necessarily ever revealed by them, maybe not even known to them! We are told of Reuven’s inner motivation to save Yosef. Etc.

• Jews operating in hostile territory under deep cover: Esther did not reveal her identity just like Yosef did not reveal his identity to Pharaoh.  

• In both stories, all is like coincidence, but it is the hand of God. 

• Bowing gets the central character in trouble: it is a central issue in both stories:  in Joseph’s dreams, and then the brothers actually bow; Mordechai refuses to bow, but the other Jews do, and Haman wants to kill all the Jews bec of Mordechai

• Haman gets A to decree killing all the Jews, a later pharaoh decrees that all the male child Jews should be killed. In both cases no rational reason is given. 

• In both situations the Jews are saved by palace insiders.

• Gather all the Jews = Joseph tells his brothers to bring the rest of the family

• Note: In Yosef story it is all dreams, in Megillah no dreams (except in the non-canonical version of the story, where M has dreams) – but much of the key action of coincidence etc takes place in middle of the night, when A can’t sleep, instead of a dream he has “the book of memories” read to him! And then he hears Haman in the courtyard at that hour! Preparing the tree for Mordechai?! And he entraps Haman, (Haman is living his dream which quickly turns into a nightmare. ) The entire story turns about from that moment on. 

• Note another strange parallel: The ending of both stories is a somewhat tangential-seeming 'boring' piece about economics: Yosef's redistribution of the Pharaoh's land, and Mordechai's placing of a tax for the the Emperor's coffer. [Perhaps at this pont Mordechai was consciously emulating Yosef's actions after seeing that God was hewing the same path in both event-chains.]

• Joseph arranges that his brothers will be able to take responsibility for having sold him as a slave and do teshuva​ (return/repentance)​, and that is the background of megilat esther - the Jewish People gather at Esther's behest and fast, a classic ​J​ewish aspect of return to God, 'teshuvah'.(see videos)

• ​So the parallels in the two stories bring home to us the theme of the megillah - that like in the story of Joseph it is about seeing God's hand behind what seems like chance or 'secular/ events​ (Joseph proclaims to Pharaoh that his interpretation is from God)​, taking responsibility for one's actions, and recognizing the power of teshuva​ (as the brothers did teshuva by defeding Benjamin, and as the Jews in the Purim story do by fasting for three days), and God's closeness even when in exile in a foreign land (like both Joseph and Mordechai).

• The divine inspiration behind the writing of the megillah - following the hidden divine hand which guided events -  points us via many parallels to the ​Biblical ​Joseph story​,​ in order to gain greater insight into the deeper levels of the​ Purim​ story and its significance. ​​See video for a listing of some of the parallels (there are more).

• Mordechai was the head of the Sanhedrin, at a high level of divine guidance and inspiration, and obviously knew the Biblical story of Joseph in great detail, especially as it was about his great-great-uncle Joseph and great-grandfather Benjamin.

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We can imagine orselves in his head when he is being ridden around in that procession, suddenly realizing the parallels, and perhaps understanding it as a whisper from God, hidden but nevertheless present, letting him know that indeed God is involved in the events, thus giving the courage and permission to him and Esther to take the crucial action at the second dinner with Haman, so dramatically recounted in the megillah, and which led to Haman's downfall and the saving of the Jewish People.

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May we be blessed to hear the divine whisper in what might seem random or natural mysterious confusing fateful events....