Purim: Between history and story

from Kan English · host כאן | Kan

The Purim holiday commemorates the dramatic salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from Haman’s plot as told in Megillat Esther. From a historical perspective, what do we actually know about this story? Did figures such as Haman, Mordechai, and Esther truly exist? KAN’s Sarahlee Tschernia spoke with Professor Yigal Levin, Chair of the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at Bar-Ilan University, to explore these questions. (Photo: Yossi Zeliger / FLASH90) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Feb 24, 2026

Embed this episode

Attribution link and audio player

NOW PLAYING

Purim: Between history and story

0:00 11:21

1×

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

Share this episode

Similar Episodes

No similar episodes found.

Similar Podcasts

TED Talks Society and Culture Thought-provoking videos about life and being human, with ideas from business leaders, psychologists and researchers speaking onstage at the TED conference, TEDx events and partner events around the world. You can also download these and many other videos free on TED.com, with an interactive English transcript and subtitles in up to 80 languages. TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Kan English?

This episode is 11 minutes long.

When was this Kan English episode published?

This episode was published on February 24, 2026.

Can I download this Kan English episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.

URL copied to clipboard!