{"id":4601,"date":"2020-03-10T12:07:41","date_gmt":"2020-03-10T12:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/?p=4601"},"modified":"2026-02-12T15:37:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:37:23","slug":"purim-memories-story-esther","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/collections\/judaic-collection\/purim-memories-story-esther\/","title":{"rendered":"Purim Memories &#038; The Story of Esther!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/rca-victor-s-1000.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"238\" height=\"178\" src=\"http:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/rca-victor-s-1000.jpg\" alt=\"Close\u2011up of an old RCA Victor record label on a vintage shellac disc\" class=\"wp-image-4603\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>During my early childhood (early 50\u2019s) in N.E. Philadelphia, I listened to Gladys Gewirtz singing all the songs from the Jewish holidays and holy days on our big RCA-Victor S-1000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My grandma Nessie\u2019s hamantashen were so yummy I couldn\u2019t stop eating them.&nbsp; Sadly, she passed away when I was 7 [Z\u201dL].&nbsp; Many years went by. Now I\u2019m 73 and I work with thousands of recordings (Jewish, Jazz &amp; Classical) at the RSA, but Gladys Gewirtz will always have a special place I my memory.&nbsp; <strong><em>I still miss my Grandma!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ben Roth<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>P.S. Prune Hamantashen are my favorites.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Purim \u2013 The Story of Esther<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/album\/334\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"191\" height=\"191\" src=\"http:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/purim.jpg\" alt=\"Album cover of &quot;Purim's Here&quot; by Gladys Gewirtz\" class=\"wp-image-4602\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/purim.jpg 191w, https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/purim-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 191px) 100vw, 191px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Album cover of &#8220;Purim&#8217;s Here&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Esther (n\u00e9e Hadassah), an orphan raised by her uncle Mordechai, was taken against her will to Persian King Ahasuerus\u2019s harem. There, she was forced to prepare herself for her first night with the King by spending six months doused in oil of myrrh and another six in sweet odors ointments. The night of their union, Ahasuerus loved Esther \u201cabove all women\u201d and made her the Persian Empire\u2019s Queen. Esther replaced Queen Vashti, who had been sentenced to death because she had refused to display her beauty to the attendants of the King\u2019s feast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When events took a turn for the worst and Esther learned that Prime Minister Haman planned to kill all Jews in the Persian empire she decided to act immediately to prevent the genocide. She told her uncle: \u201cGo, gather all the Jews together and fast for me.&nbsp; Neither eat nor drink for three whole days. \u201d Mordecai argued that these three days fast happened to include the Passover night, which should not be a night of fasting. Esther retorted, \u201cWithout Jews, who needs Passover?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She invited both Ahasuerus and Haman to a private banquet. At that banquet Esther told the king of Haman\u2019s plan to massacre all Jews in his kingdom, then acknowledged her own Jewish ethnicity. The information about Haman enraged King Ahasuerus and he gave an order that Haman be hanged.&nbsp;&nbsp; He also elevated Mordecai to prime minister and gave Jews the right to defend themselves against any enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking for music to celebrate Purim, discover <a href=\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/purim-collection\"><strong>over 20 vintage albums<\/strong><\/a> to choose from here at the Recorded Sound Archives!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During my early childhood (early 50\u2019s) in N.E. Philadelphia, I listened to Gladys Gewirtz singing all the songs from the Jewish holidays and holy days on our big RCA-Victor S-1000. My grandma Nessie\u2019s hamantashen were so yummy I couldn\u2019t stop eating them.&nbsp; Sadly, she passed away when I was 7 [Z\u201dL].&nbsp; Many years went by. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[737,738,413],"tags":[171,298],"class_list":["post-4601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collections","category-holiday-religious-music","category-judaic-collection","tag-gladys-gewirtz","tag-purim"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Purim Memories &amp; The Story of Esther! - Recorded Sound Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore Purim memories and the Story of Esther with Jewish music and historic recordings from the Judaic Collection at the Recorded Sound Archives.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/collections\/judaic-collection\/purim-memories-story-esther\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Purim Memories &amp; The Story of Esther! - Recorded Sound Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore Purim memories and the Story of Esther with Jewish music and historic recordings from the Judaic Collection at the Recorded Sound Archives.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/collections\/judaic-collection\/purim-memories-story-esther\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Recorded Sound Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-10T12:07:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-12T15:37:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/rca-victor-s-1000.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"238\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"178\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Benjamin Roth-Aroni\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Benjamin Roth-Aroni\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/collections\/judaic-collection\/purim-memories-story-esther\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/collections\/judaic-collection\/purim-memories-story-esther\/\",\"name\":\"Purim Memories & The Story of Esther! 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