Purimפּוּרִים

Purim (Hebrew: פּוּרִים, Pûrîm “lots”, from the word פור pur, also called the Festival of Lots) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman in the ancient Persian Empire, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther (Megillat Esther). Purim is shaped by the theme of hidden providence: the Book of Esther is the only book of the Hebrew Bible in which God's name never appears, and tradition reads the deliverance as God working unseen through seemingly ordinary, even coincidental, events. The very name "Purim" ("lots") points to this irony: Haman cast lots (pur) to fix a date for genocide, yet that date became one of Jewish triumph. Haman is identified as a descendant of Amalek, the biblical archetype of those who attack the Jewish people, which links Purim to the broader commandment to remember and blot out Amalek's memory. The mood of the day is one of reversal (v'nahafoch hu, "and it was overturned"): mourning turned to joy, planned destruction turned to survival, and concealment turned to revelation, themes echoed in the holiday's customs of costumes, masks, and merriment.

Purim falls on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar, beginning the evening before since Jewish days start at sunset; in a Jewish leap year it is observed in the second Adar (14th of Adar II / Adar Sheni). The Fast of Esther (Ta'anit Esther) precedes it on the 13th of Adar, advanced to the preceding Thursday when the 13th falls on Shabbat. Rather than following the usual split between Israel and the Diaspora, Purim's timing depends on whether a city was walled since the time of Joshua: such walled cities, with Jerusalem the definitive example, observe Shushan Purim on the 15th of Adar instead. (Several cities such as Hebron and Tiberias observe the 15th by custom or out of doubt; this is rite- and locale-dependent and worth verifying locally.) When the 15th falls on Shabbat in Jerusalem, observances are spread across the 14th, 15th, and 16th, a rare arrangement called Purim Meshulash ("Triple Purim"). In a leap year, the 14th of Adar I is marked as Purim Katan ("Minor Purim"), a minor observance on which fasting and eulogies are avoided, but the Megillah is not read and the four mitzvot are not obligatory. Exact Gregorian dates should be computed from the Hebrew calendar for the relevant year.

The centerpiece is the public reading of Megillat Esther (the Scroll of Esther), chanted twice: once at night after the evening service and again the next morning after the Torah reading. Esther has its own unique cantillation (trope) used for no other book: a generally light, joyous melody, except that several sorrowful verses recalling exile and grief are chanted in the mournful Eicha (Lamentations) melody (these are commonly listed as Esther 1:6, 2:6, 3:15, 4:1 or 4:2, 4:3, 4:16, and 8:6, though the exact set varies by community and rite). The congregation calls out four "verses of redemption" (Esther 2:5, 8:15, 8:16, and 10:3), which the reader then repeats, and the names of Haman's ten sons (9:7-10) are chanted rapidly in a single breath. The Purim morning Torah reading is Exodus 17:8-16, the account of Amalek's attack ("Vayavo Amalek"), read because Haman descended from Amalek; there is no Haftarah on Purim itself. The Shabbat before Purim, Shabbat Zachor, features a maftir of Deuteronomy 25:17-19 (remembering Amalek) with a haftarah from I Samuel 15. Al HaNissim is added to the Amidah and the Grace After Meals.

Purim centers on four core mitzvot: hearing the Megillah (night and day); Mishloach Manot, sending gifts of at least two ready-to-eat foods to at least one person; Matanot La'evyonim, giving charity to at least two people in need; and the Se'udat Purim, a festive daytime meal traditionally accompanied by wine. Beloved customs include drowning out Haman's name with noisemakers called groggers (ra'ashanim) and stamping or booing whenever it is read; dressing in costumes and masks, reflecting the holiday's "hidden" theme; eating triangular filled pastries called hamantaschen (Hebrew oznei Haman, "Haman's ears"); staging humorous Purim spiels (plays); and the Talmudic custom of festive drinking "ad lo yada," until one can no longer distinguish "cursed is Haman" from "blessed is Mordecai." The practice and emphasis of these customs (especially the drinking, costumes, and pastry traditions) vary by community.