The holiday of Purim is celebrated worldwide  by all Jewish communities, and with greater emotional involvement by the communities of Iran and Iraq.  The story of Purim is an account of the historical events related in the Scroll of Esther.  Biblical scholars have always had a problem with this story and other biblical narratives which are  beautifully written.  It is as if the perfection of the literary work leads them to doubt its historical accuracy.

In this lecture Dr. Neiman will trace the history of the events recorded in the Book of Esther, and cite the accounts of extra-biblical historians in an attempt to show that the Book of Esther is, in fact, the record of a historical event that affected the entire Jewish nation in the middle of the 5th century before the beginning of the  Common Era.

About Dr. Neiman:

Dr. David Neiman (1921-2004) was the first Jewish scholar appointed to teach Religion at Boston College, one of America's leading Catholic Universities. He served as Professor in the Department of Theology for a quarter of a century. While there he was also invited to teach at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. After retiring from Boston College, Dr.Neiman moved to Los Angeles, where he taught at Loyola Marymount University, St. John' s Seminary in Camarillo and the University of Judaism in Bel Air.