Purim Offers Opportunities for Revelry and Silliness

Shake it up, baby! (File photo)

Is Purim the Jewish version of Halloween? Or a Hebraic take on Mardi Gras? Well, not exactly, although there are some similarities and common quirks. They all involve costumes, merriment and some general, um, weirdness.

Purim, which this year falls on the evening of March 11 and concludes at sundown the following day, is one of the most joyous and downright giddy holidays on the Hebrew calendar. It marks the deliverance from extermination (yet again!) of the Jews living in Persia in the fourth century B.C.E.

It’s also darned good yarn. (Just ask the producers of “Esther and the King,” a 1960 biblical epic calamity starring Joan Collins and Richard Egan.)

According to Megillat Esther, or the Book of Esther, Purim’s heroine, a fetching young Jewish lass living in the Persian city of Shushan, was taken to the palatial abode of King Ahasuerus to become part of his collective concubine club. The king, however, was head-over-heels smitten and made Esther — known in Hebrew as Hadassah — his queen, not knowing that she was a Jew (because her cousin Mordecai told her not to reveal her identity).

Meanwhile, Haman, the arrogant, egotistical top-level adviser to the monarch, was hellbent on decimating all of Persian Jewry. That’s reportedly because Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman on a particular occasion. (Oy, could that Haman hold a grudge or what?!)

The wise Mordecai persuaded Esther to summon the courage and talk to Ahasuerus on behalf of the Jewish people. She informed the king of her Jewishness and told him of Haman’s nefarious plot. The upshot is that the Jews were saved and Haman and his 10 sons were hanged on the gallows originally prepared for Mordecai & Co.

At the end of the story, the vengeful Jews turned the tables on their enemies. Megillat Esther concludes with the Jews waging a battle in which more than 75,000 of their enemies perish. (Betcha your Hebrew school teacher never told you that part!).

‘Lots’ of Fun

The word Purim itself means “lots” and alludes to the lottery that Haman used to choose the date for the massacre of the Jews. The holiday, also known as the “Feast of Lots,” is preceded by a minor fast to commemorate Esther’s fasting for three days before approaching the king.

(Interestingly, there is no mention of God in the Purim story, but Jews nonetheless celebrate the Almighty’s handiwork behind the scenes to spare the Jews of Persia.)

On Purim, Jews are commanded to hear the reading of the Book of Esther, commonly known simply as the Megillah. During the synagogue service, it is customary to hiss, boo, stomp feet, shriek and rattle groggers (noisemakers) whenever Haman’s name is uttered.

Jews also are commanded to eat, nosh, drink and be quite merry (and even goofy) on Purim, until they cannot tell “the difference between ‘cursed be Haman’ and ‘blessed be Mordechai.’”

They also are commanded to send gift baskets of food and drinks, called shalach manot, to friends, family and neighbors, as well as make charitable gifts. Ashkenazic Jews traditionally eat hamantaschen, triangular fruit-filled cookies, on Purim, which are supposed to represent Haman’s three-cornered hat.

Another custom is to dress in costumes and hold carnival-like celebrations, plays (shpiels) and parodies on Purim. Also, there is the Purim se’udah, a festival meal at which folks eat, schmooze, sing Purim songs and drink alcohol.

Regarding the matter of imbibing on Purim, to paraphrase the late, great Sgt. Phil Esterhaus of “Hill Street Blues” fame, let’s be careful out there, folks. Chag Purim Samayach!

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