What is this holiday called Purim?

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, and he loved her more than his other women and made her 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 thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king's laws; therefore it does not profit the king to suffer them.” Esther 3:8. The king gave the fate of the Jewish people to Haman, to do as he pleased to them. Haman planned to 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 had 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 it 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 14th of Adar is the day that Haman chose for the extermination of the Jews. 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. 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 word “Purim” means “lots” and refers to the lottery that Haman used to choose the date for the massacre.

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 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 the speak of The Megillah. It is customary to boo, hiss, stamp feet and rattle gragers (noisemakers; see illustration) whenever the name of Haman is mentioned in the service. The purpose of this custom is to “blot out the name of Haman.”

We are also commanded to eat, drink and be merry. According to the Talmud, a person is required to drink until he cannot tell the difference between “cursed be Haman” and “blessed be Mordecai,” though opinions differ as to exactly how drunk that is.

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 (lit. sending out portions). Among Ashkenazic Jews, a common treat at this time of year is hamentaschen (lit. Haman's pockets). These triangular fruit-filled cookies are supposed to represent Haman's three-cornered hat.

It is customary to hold carnival-like celebrations on Purim, to perform plays and parodies, and to hold beauty contests. I have heard that the usual prohibitions against cross-dressing are lifted during this holiday, but I am not certain about that. Americans sometimes refer to Purim as the Jewish Mardi Gras.

Work is permitted as usual on Purim, unless of course it falls on a Saturday.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judais...

Purim is the main festive of Jewish trip trips, a time of prizes, noisemakers, costumes and treats. The pageant of Purim commemorates a substantial victory over oppression and is regarded interior the Megillah, the scroll of the tale of Esther. Purim occurs on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar, the 12th month of the Jewish calendar. This twelve months (2006) Purim starts off at sunset on the thirteenth of March

It is when the Jews overcame another period of bullying in the Middle East. It is significant because they are still there and their new enemies are still trying to wipe them out.

Shai's answer is quite correct, though I'd replace Mardi Gras (marking the month before spring harvest during which it was hoped in Ancient Israel to have weather conditions conducive to good harvest and called Lent by Christians) by the words "American Halloween". On Purim children would dress up in costumes depicting Esther, Mordecai, etc. Purim is very important since throughout our history in the diaspora Jews have usually for economic reasons been singled out for conversion or annilhilation which was Haman's intent, and he even cast lots (purim) to determine when would be the best day to carry out his evil plan. There is a legend that Haman wore a tri-cornered hat, and so we eat cakes shaped thusly which are filled with poppy seeds, prune butter, or some such jam. There are carnivals where games are played, and sobriety is not practiced on the holiday which is Purim. Gift baskets of foods are sent to friends, and children often wearing costumes arriving with these are given a coin or two.

Back in the day, an Amalekite named Haman plotted to kill the Jews. Through miraculous events, Hamas was killed and it was reversed- a big war was fought on the day where Haman originally wanted to kill the jews- and the Jews won the war. We commemorate this by giving Mishloach Manot(food baskets to friends), Ma'atanot L'evyonim(money to the poor)

These are is also a fast tomorrow- the Fast of Esther, it is called. When the decree was made, Esther fasted for 3 days. We commemorate this by fasting for one.

We also read the Megillah of Esther, which is the story of Purim. Every time Haman's name is mentioned we make noise, as a sign of contempt. Almost like booing.

Hope this helps!

They celebrate the slaughter of 100,000 or so people on the basis that they were all involved with a secret plot to "smite" the jews.

It is a celebration of genocide based on what I hope is a mythological incident. A king is persuaded that his Prime Minister is secretly plotting to undo the jews. His girlfriend persuades him to hang his P.M. and appoint her cousin in his place. Said cousin then somehow determines that 100,000,check it out,100,000 persons were involved in this sinister conspiracy,presumably using a very large abacus. He then slaughters 100,000 persons on grounds of their alleged participation in a plot to undo the jews. It was all very um how shall I say,pre-emptive?

They are celebrating the pre-emptive slaughter of 100,000 members of the Largest Conspiracy Ever. May we assume a demographic shift occurred as a result with the jews on top? I daresay.

I never knew what i was either until I was in Israel for it. I lived in the city center over the midrochov and it was very noisy. I remember having a huge bought of drinking for like thursday, friday & saturday night... but still sunday this noise of firecrackers, drumming, shouting and the mitzvah tanks continued until 3am. I went outside to get a beer and try to join them but it was mostly little kids and the climbed around on me and were funny, but a bit annoying.

they wanted charity. I tried to explain that I had already given to the charity (its cool, they give you this certificate) and I had enough purim.

The next night there was a huge concert and the whole downtown on Hillel was lit up by colored lights.. it was very pretty.

Last year I celebrated in nachloat and tried to stay healthy. many people are drinking very heavily so I kept a bottle of watter filled up and was making people drink and also had juice and vitamins and tried to protect people that were being too drunk and hurting themselves.

i also went to some clubs in tel aviv wearing my costume and really, just had about the most fun holiday ever. its like st patricks day, halloween and new years all in one!

I am sad I don't get to celebrate it this year.

It starts today and continues for more days in Jerusalem because it is a "walled city." Even the orthodox there will be drinking and dancing.

I agree with the people who say that everything the Jews celebrate has to do with some type of persecution or holocaust.

They never notice or criticize their race when they do something wrong.

There are thousands of examples, starting from the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago and ending in the Gaza Massacre in 2009.

They always seem to forget their involvement in the two World Wars or the two American Stock Market collapses in our recent history.

Fortunately we, the "Gentiles" as they use to call us with sarcasm, have a better memory, less selective than theirs.

Greetings

purim is the commemoration of the miracle which occurred in Persia -- the evil haman plotted to kill all the Jewish people but through a series of "coincidences" (the hidden divine hand in action) the Jews were allowed to defend themselves and overcame their enemies and reaffirmed their commitment to Judaism.

There are a few central commandments -- reading the story of Purim 2 times, giving charity, giving gifts of food to neighbors, and a celebratory feast are the essential ones.

Purim is a jewish holiday which has important spiritual significance.

Here is a fantastic article explaining Purim in modern spiritual context:

http://jta.org/news/article/2009/03/03/1003428/meg...

I hope it helps with your question, all the best.