Happy Purim! פורים שמח



פורים שמח

 Yesterday we celebrated the Jewish holiday of Purim.  Purim is actually a two-day holiday but since it's for the kids so we got no days off from work. Too bad!  Purim is like a cross between Mardi-Gras and Halloween, neither of which is celebrated in Israel.  It's a time for carnival, circuses, costumes and drinking--Biblically-mandated drinking, I might add.

The roots of Purim come from the Book of Esther which tells the story of how the beautiful Jewish queen selflessly petitioned her Persian king to undo a nefarious plot to kill all the Jews.  Haman, the king's most trusted advisor, hated Mordechai, a Jewish rival at court and Esther's father and therefore planned to have all of the Jews in Persia murdered on the 14th of Adar.  Esther, through Mordechai, uncovered the plan and risked her life to petition her king to intervene on behalf of the Jews.  In those days women (even the queen) were only allowed to come to court when the king called for them and could never come of their own accord.  If the king were displeased upon seeing her, he could have her put to death.  The king, however, was extremely pleased, elevated Mordechai, hung Haman and told the Jews that they could arm themselves against any Persian who came to harm them.  On the 14th of Adar the Jews triumphed over their adversaries, including over Haman's ten sons whom they hung on their father's gallows.  Mordechai and Esther prospered and commanded the Jews to celebrate their victory on the 14th and 15th of Adar in perpetuity.  The word Purim comes from the Persian "pur" which means lots.  Haman cast lots to determine the day on which to enact his scheme.

My coworker told me that all Jewish holidays follow this pattern:
1) Someone plots to kill the Jews
2) The Jews survive
3) The Jews feast :-)

For about a month we have been eating special triangle cookies called Hamantaschen which represent Haman's ears (see picture below).  These are filled with fig jam, but some are filled with chocolate.

Kids get two days off from school and get to wear costumes to parties.  Lately, adults have also started joining in the fun by wearing costumes and hosting their own parties.  My work group celebrated with a family circus event and I got some cute pictures of kids in all of their finery.

 





Little kids and big kids too!



One of my coworkers risks death by circus flambe

A good reminder!