“Purim is my favouritest festival”, says Shirley, an Israeli friend. It is one of the liveliest festivals of Israel. Purim is celebrated on the 14th or 15th of Adar according to the Hebrew calendar (which comes in February or March).
(Shirley's daughter Shaili, dressed as Minnie Mouse on Purim this year)
The story behind the festival revolves around the Biblical Book of Esther, The Megillah. Esther is a Jewish orphan girl who was raised by her cousin Mordecai. King Ahasuerus of Persia falls for her beauty and crowns her the queen but was unaware that she was Jewish.
Haman, the king's advisor, hated Mordecai, and so, formulates a plot against him. When Haman learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he resolves to kill not only Mordecai, but also Esther and all the Jewish people under the Persian rule. Being the king's advisor, Haman gets the king to, approve of his plan. Somehow Esther learns of this. She fasts for three days with all the Jews in the land. She prepares to approach the king to ask him to spare her and her people. He welcomes Esther, honours Mordecai and
saves the Jews (because the king recalls the time Mordecai saved him from death through the court records). Haman and his ten sons are then hanged on the gallows that were intended for Mordecai.
Purim is a festival with an almost carnival atmosphere. Like all other Jewish festivals, Purim starts in the evening and continues till nightfall the next day (in Judaism, the night always precedes the day. So every holiday begins the night before, and ends at nightfall the next day).
One of the customs associated with the festival is the Synagogue service. The Book of Esther is read during these services. Every time the name of Haman is mentioned, everybody ‘boos’ it down. Traditionally, people used to come all dressed up, and a lot of them with masks and characters from the Purim story (but now, a lot of people just casually attend the synagogue service and meet up with friends at get-togethers dressed up as anything under the sun, cartoon characters, film stars et al.).
Giving charity to the poor (Matanot la'evyonim) and sending gifts to friends and relatives (Mishloach manot) are two other very important customs of this festival.
Purim is like a national holiday in Israel. Food and drinks are given foremost importance in the festival. Plays, pageants and masquerade are performed on the theme of Purim or even otherwise. Wearing masks and various costumes are popular and some communities even allow cross-dressing, seeing it in spirit with the jovial theme of the festival.
People start preparing months before the festival for this one day. Everybody looks forward to the celebrations of this day.
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