Purim

Purim

Shalom and Chag Sameach. Welcome to Judeo Talk. Even though it's Wednesday, we won't be doing our regular Person of the Week feature because tonight is a special holiday. Every year on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Adar, Jews gather to celebrate the story told in Magillat Ester, the Scroll of Esther. Though it is considered one of the minor holidays, i.e. not mentioned in the Five Books, Purim has been celebrated all over the world for several thousand years. The Scroll of Esther describes a period of time when the Jewish people were living in Persia during the Achaemenid dynasty. They were living there because the Persian Empire took over the territories of the Babylonian Empire which conquered and held captive the Israelites. These are the same Babylonians who destroyed the First Temple of Jerusalem. The story of Purim revolves around a king named Ahasuerus, but he would have been known in his own country Khashayarsha. For us modern people, we remember him by the name his Greek adversaries gave him, Xerxes. According to the story, the king banished his wife, Queen Vashti, from the kingdom. When he went in search of a new wife, the woman he selected was Esther. However, the king was unaware of Esther's Jewish heritage. The villain of the story is a man named Haman the Agagite. The term "Agag" itself likely refers to a king of Amalekite descent. The Amalekites are a people in the Torah who wage unprovoked war against the Jewish people with the sole intent of extermination. By linking Haman with them, he is essentially being called an ancient enemy of the Jews. Haman hatches a plot to kill all of the Jews in the kingdom, using his position as a vizier to the king as leverage. The hero of the story ends up being Esther, who bravely reveals herself as a Jew to the king in an attempt to sway him from the impending genocide. Most Jews grow up hearing a somewhat softened version of the story in which Haman's decree to kill the Jews is simply reversed. In the actual story, the king is bound by law to hold to any royal decree, even if he changes his mind. Instead, he augments the law so that Jews will be not held responsible for any deaths resulting from self-defense. The story of Esther can then be interpreted to be a call to pride and courage instead of a simple example of a people's weakness. Purim is celebrated in a number of ways and it is often the most boisterous holiday in the Jewish faith. It has long been a tradition to conduct a Purimspiel, a small comedic play that tells the story in the Scroll of Esther. This is often encouraged to be a play performed by amateurs in the community and many synagogues have their own Purimspiele performed by congregants. It has also long been a tradition to have Purim parties where a little bit of excess is permissible. Some scholars have been known to say that revelers should drink enough to not be able to tell the difference between the names Haman and Mordechi (one of the story's heroes). Every Purim also includes a special treat called Hamantaschen. The name means "Haman's Hat" in German. It is a three-cornered pastry representing Haman's pointed, three-cornered hat. Its consistency is like a dense, crumbly cookie and it has different kinds of filling, like fruit, chocolate or poppy seed. People attending Purim parties also tend to dress up in costume. This began as a tradition to dress up as characters from the story, but these days it is treated more like a Halloween party, though with less emphasis on scary or morbid themes. I hope you all have a happy Purim. If you didn't make it to a party this year, make sure to mark your calendar for next Adar.