books ring true , especially when the changes are reflected not only in the translation , but in the Hebrew text itself .
I find it meaningful when engaged in prayer on this holiday , to meditate both on the real suffering of our people at the hands of more powerful neighbors , as well as on the equally real , and near-universal , human attribute of hostility to the minority , the individual or group on the margins of the larger society . This prayer can inspire us to assertively call out contemporary versions of anti-Jewish prejudice as well as to allow our inheritance of affliction to inform the way we view intolerance against all minorities in modern times . If we would add some personal words on these themes to the traditional Al HaNissim for Purim , I think we would be fulfilling the third-century Tosefta ’ s charge to “ mention something about the occasion .”
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