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Purim
is one of the most joyous and fun
holidays on the Jewish calendar. It
commemorates a time when the Jewish
people living in Persia were saved
from extermination.
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 as if she were his daughter. 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
nationality.
The villain of the story is Haman,
an arrogant, egotistical advisor to
the king. Haman hated Mordecai because
Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman,
so Haman plotted to destroy the Jewish
people. In a speech that is all too
familiar to Jews, Haman 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.”
(Esther 3:8) The king gave the fate
of the Jewish people to Haman, to
do as he pleased to them. Haman planned
t exterminate all of the Jews.
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 Haman’s plot against her
people. The Jewish people were saved,
and Haman was hanged on the gallows
that has been prepared for Mordecai.
The book of Esther is unusual in that
it is the only book of the Bible that
does not contain the name of G-d.
In fact, it includes virtually no
reference to G-d. Mordecai makes a
vague reference to the fact that the
Jews will be saved by someone else,
if not by Esther, but that is the
closest the book comes to mentioning
G-d. Thus, one important message that
can be gained from the story is that
G-d often works in ways that are not
apparent, in ways that appear to be
chance, coincidence or ordinary good
luck.
Purim is celebrated on the 14th day
of Adar, which is usually in March.
The 13th of Adar is the day that Haman
chose for the extermination of the
Jews, and the day that the Jews battled
their enemies for their lives. On
the day afterwards, the 14th they
celebrated their survival. In cities
that were walled in the time of Joshua,
Purim is celebrated on the 15th of
the month, because the book of Esther
says that in Shushan (a walled city),
deliverance from the massacre was
not complete until the next day. The
15th is referred to as Shushan Purim.
In leap years, when there are two
months of Adar, Purim is celebrated
in the second month of Adar, so it
is always one month before Passover.
The 14th day of the first Adar in
a leap year is celebrated as a minor
holiday called Purim Katan, which
means “little Purim.”
There are no specific observances
fro Purim Katan; however, a person
should celebrate the holiday and should
not mourn or fast. Some communities
also observe a “Purim Katan”
on the anniversary of any day when
their community was saved from a catastrophe,
destruction, evil or oppression. However,
the Purim holiday is preceded by a
minor fast, the Fast of Esther, which
commemorates Esther’s three
days of fasting in preparation for
her meeting with the king. The word
“Purim” means “lots”
and refers to the lottery that Haman
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 book of Esther
is commonly known as the megillah,
which means “scroll.”
Although there are five books of Jewish
scripture that are properly referred
to as megillahs (Esther, Ruth, Ecclesiastes,
Song of Songs, and Lamentations),
this is the one people usually mean
when they speak of The Megillah. It
is customary to boo, hiss, stamp feet
and rattle gragers (noisemakers) whenever
the name of Haman is mentioned in
the service. The purpose of this custom
is to “blot out the name of
Haman.”
It is customary to hold carnival-like
celebrations on Purim, to perform
plays and parodies, and to hold beauty
contests. Purim is not subject to
the Sabbath-like restrictions on work
that some other holidays are; however,
some sources indicate that we should
not go about our ordinary business
on Purim out of respect for the holiday.
© 1995-2001 Tracey R. Rich
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