today's opening prayer will be offered by rabbi seth frisch, from historic congregation kesher israel, rabbi frisch: we look to you today, you who remembers all that we have forgotten, and you who are the eternal source of all blessing. we stand before you on the eve of the biblical festival of purim, a joyous time in which we

today's opening prayer will be offered by rabbi seth frisch, from historic congregation kesher israel, rabbi frisch: we look to you today, you who remembers all that we have forgotten, and you who are the eternal source of all blessing. we stand before you on the eve of the biblical festival of purim, a joyous time in which we read from the ancient and sacred scroll of ester. it is in the scroll we read at first of a certain darkness, a darkness which would come to envelope the entire nation over which ester would reign as queen. it was queen ester who became frightened when the plan revealing a plot to erase the sacred remnants of her people, along with the fundamental teachings of her faith came to light. and yet, it was ester who, when confronted by the impending darkness, was able to bring the plot to an end, allowing her people to emerge from the shadow of this horror and live freely, without fear, celebrating life itself in the light of their new found freedom. and now, standing here today before you on the eve of the festival, we too ask that you remember us for life, instillin