Book Review on The Megillah: Majesty and Mystery

Title: The Megillah: Majesty and Mystery

Commentary by Rabbi Norman Lamm

Compiled and Edited by Joel B. Wolowelsky

Publisher: OU Press

The OU Press completes its presentation of Rabbi Norman Lamm's teachings on the Jewish holidays with this new commentary on the Purim megillah, enhanced with a commentary on the Purim evening synagogue service and essays on Chanukah, Yom HaAtzmaut, Yom Yerushalyim and Thanksgiving.

Rabbi Lamm had written and preserved the hundreds of eloquent and inspiring sermons he had delivered as a pulpit rabbi in Manhattan for 25 years prior to becoming president of Yeshiva University, and Dr. Joel B. Wolowelsky has drawn from this treasure trove of Torah teachings to produce a coherent and flowing commentary, just as he did with Rabbi Lamm's The Royal Table: A Passover Haggadah. Essays on the other Jewish holidays were collected and presented by Professor David Shatz in Rabbi Lamm's Festivals of Faith: Reflections on the Jewish Holidays.

Rabbi Lamm is one of our generation's great darshanim and Jewish thinkers. He is able to see the current in our ancient texts, and he has the uncanny ability to find the flowing and inspiring words to bring the past to life and help us focus on our own contemporary experiences. This volume helps make our Purim evening more meaningful and complete.