Purim is one of my favorite holidays. It is certainly one of the most fun.
It commemorates a time when the Jews of Persia were saved from extermination. I know that 99% of my readers already know the story of Purim, but it’s one of my favorites and easy to summarize. So for the rest of you …here is the quick and dirty on this holiday (and I know this is missing a bunch of details- but I said it was the quick version).
The story of Purim is told in the Biblical book of Esther. The heroes of the story are Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman living in Persia, and her cousin Mordecai, who raised her. Esther was taken to the house of Ahasuerus, King of Persia, to become part of his harem.
King Ahasuerus loved Esther more than his other women and made Esther queen, but the king did not know that Esther was a Jew, because Mordecai told her not to reveal her identity.
The villain of the story is Hayman, an arrogant advisor to the king. Hayman hated Mordecai because Mordecai refused to bow down to him, so Hayman plotted to destroy the Jewish people.
In a speech familiar to most Jews, Hayman told the king, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm. Their laws are different from those of every other people's, and they do not observe the king's laws; therefore it is not befitting the king to tolerate them." The king gave the fate of the Jewish people to Hayman, to do as he pleased to them.
Mordecai persuaded Esther to speak to the king on behalf of the Jewish people. This was a dangerous thing for Esther to do, because anyone who came into the king's presence without being summoned could be put to death, and she had not been summoned. Esther fasted for three days to prepare herself, then went into the king. He welcomed her. Later, she told him of Hayman's plot against her people. The Jewish people were saved, and Hayman was hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai.
The word ‘Purim’ means ‘lots’ and refers to the lottery that Hayman used to choose the date for the massacre. The primary commandment related to Purim is to hear the reading of the book of Esther (the Megillah). It is customary to boo, hiss, stamp feet and rattle graggers (noisemakers) whenever the name of Hayman is mentioned. The purpose of this custom is to "blot out the name of Hayman."
We are also commanded to eat, drink and be merry- which is the best part. A person is required to drink until he cannot tell the difference between “cursed be Hayman” and “blessed be Mordecai.”
In addition, we are commanded to send out gifts of food or drink, and to make gifts to charity. The sending of gifts of food and drink is referred to as shalach manos (sending out portions). A common treat at this time of year is hamentaschen. These triangular fruit-filled cookies are supposed to represent Hayman's three-cornered hat.
The word ‘Purim’ means ‘lots’ and refers to the lottery that Hayman used to choose the date for the massacre. The primary commandment related to Purim is to hear the reading of the book of Esther (the Megillah). It is customary to boo, hiss, stamp feet and rattle graggers (noisemakers) whenever the name of Hayman is mentioned. The purpose of this custom is to "blot out the name of Hayman."
We are also commanded to eat, drink and be merry- which is the best part. A person is required to drink until he cannot tell the difference between “cursed be Hayman” and “blessed be Mordecai.”
In addition, we are commanded to send out gifts of food or drink, and to make gifts to charity. The sending of gifts of food and drink is referred to as shalach manos (sending out portions). A common treat at this time of year is hamentaschen. These triangular fruit-filled cookies are supposed to represent Hayman's three-cornered hat.
Some of my earliest memories are of this holiday. I remember rolling out big slabs of dough on the kitchen table with my grandmothers to make hamentashen, and filling them with preserves (usually raspberry, apple butter, apricot, prune and sometimes chocolate).
Mine never came out quite right- they were kind of lopsided, but they tasted just as good.
I remember dressing up and going to temple to hear the reading of the Megillah and all the noise from the groggers and yelling whenever Hayman's name would come up.
I hope that even if you don't go to temple tonight for the Megillah reading, you take a minute to think about this story, how fortunate we are to be free today and celebrate in your own way.
Happy Purim everyone!
I thought this was cool- its the book of Esther in the shape of an Absolute bottle. Lovesit!
