What is Purim and how is it celebrated?
What is Purim? Purim is a Jewish holiday that incorporates dressing up in costume, and eating and drinking in celebration. Ultra-orthodox Jewish men pray next to children wearing crowns ahead of the Jewish holiday of Purim, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s (Photo: MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty)
How do Jews celebrate the festival of Purim?
Purim is celebrated among Jews by: Exchanging gifts of food and drink, known as mishloach manot. Donating charity to the poor, known as mattanot la-evyonim. Eating a celebratory meal, known as se’udat Purim.
Why is Purim important for Jews?
Purim is one of the most entertaining Jewish holidays. Purim commemorates the time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination by the courage of a young Jewish woman called Esther.
Is Purim a major Jewish holiday?
Purim is, indeed, a major holiday.
What do you eat during Purim?
For Ashkenazi Jews, perhaps the most widely held food tradition on Purim is eating triangular-shaped foods such as kreplach and hamantashen pastries. Kreplach are pasta triangles filled with ground beef or chicken and hamantashen are triangles of pastry dough surrounding a filling often made with dates or poppy seeds.
What is the real story of Purim?
Purim, a holiday from the Jewish bible’s Scroll of Esther, tells the story of Esther, the wife of a Persian king who hid the fact that she was Jewish. As the story goes, Haman was a vizier (an adviser) to the king who wanted to exterminate the Jews in the Persian Empire.
What do you drink on Purim?
The custom of drinking wine on Purim stems from a quotation in the Talmud attributed to a fourth century rabbi, Rava: “One must drink on Purim until that person cannot distinguish between cursing Haman and blessing Mordechai” (Megillah 7b).
Do you dress up for Purim?
In order to remind us of how God remained hidden throughout the Purim miracle, many Jews dress up on Purim and hide their faces. Another explanation is that the costumes represent the non-Jews who pretended to be members of the tribe, after the Jews were victorious.
What does the Bible say about Purim?
According to Esther 9:22, Purim is remembered as the time the Jews got “relief” or “rest” from their enemies, and their sorrow was turned to joy. Their enemies (Haman and company) were the descendants of Amalek, with whom God said He would wage war from generation to generation (Exodus 17:16).
What do you say to someone on Purim?
The proper greeting for people celebrating Purim is “happy Purim,” or chag Purim sameach in Hebrew. The phrase Chag sameach means “happy holiday” and can be used for any joyous Jewish holiday.