What is Purim?
As winter becomes spring, Jews celebrate Purim, originally one of several spring-welcoming festivals. First and foremost, Purim is fun: joyous, boisterous, madcap. But even hilarity must fit within a framework. CELEBRATING PURIM The megilla lists four ways to celebrate Purim: reading the megilla, giving charity, giving gifts of food, and the festive meal. The hamantashen, the three-cornered filled cookie, remains the food of choice for Purim. IN THE BEGINNING . . . On one level, the Purim story represents the annual struggle to end the harsh reign of winter. The original characters appear to have been Babylonian gods: Ishtar, the goddess of fertility; Marduk, the chief guardian of the heavens; and Haman, the underworld devil. Ishtar and Haman, life and death, vie with each other for supremacy. Ishtar triumphs; spring returns; and life is renewed. Yahveh, the Hebrew God, played no part in the celebration, which was filled with theatrical renditions of the contest. Noisemaking and masque
By Menachem Levison What is the meaning of the miracle of Purim that happened some 2500 years ago for us? The miracle of Purim happened in between the period of the first and second temples. It happened during the reign of Persian influence in the world. Things were different then. What do we have in common with events that happened then? But we must realize that what ever is in the Jewish Bible is there for our benefit. Many miracles have happened to many individuals and communities through out the passage of time. Yet only that which was essential to our individual and national well being were canonized into the “Tanach”. The Megalith Esther is one of those books. Every word, letter and phrase comes to teach us, each individual person, about the meaning of life and how we should live. Purim took place during the time that the Jews were in the Golus, the exile between the two Temples. From the view of the physical well being, the Jews in Persia we were well off and did not suffer from
Purim is often considered the most cheerful and colorful of all the Jewish holidays. Its story takes place in Shushan, the capital city of the Persian Empire, in the 3rd year of King Ahashverosh’s reign. The holiday celebrates the Jews’ victory over oppression, which is recounted in great detail in the “Esther Megillah” (The Book of Esther).
Purim, which literally means “lots” in Hebrew, is a Jewish holiday commemorating the rescue of Jews living in Persia from certain destruction at the hands of Haman, an evil Persian nobleman. Haman believed that a Jewish leader named Mordechai had not demonstrated enough respect in his court. Incensed by this lack of obedience, Haman and his wife Zeresh conceived a plan to kill Mordechai and all of his fellow Persian Jews. Special lots, or purim, would be thrown to determine the actual day this slaughter would begin.
