How long does purim go for

Traditionally, costumes and masks are worn to school, synagogue and carnivals on Purim. The gift baskets typically include at least two different types of food, Krasner says. Another tradition mandated by the story is charity, either in the form of a present or a donation.

Another biblical commandment and mitzvah on Purim is actually the retelling of, and listening to, the story itself. Many people will go to services to hear a reading of the story on Purim. But since medieval times, a new tradition has risen to popularity: telling the story in the form of a play, farce or skit, Krasner says.

People dress up as the characters from the story or dress up as pop culture figures to parody the story of Purim. As with many religious holidays from all corners of the world, Purim is marked with a festival meal with friends, family and the community. The feast of Purim, held in the afternoon of the holiday, is mandated in the story, too, Krasner says.

Though many Jewish holidays are observed with similar meals, the Purim feast has a different feeling, Krasner says. For most major Jewish holidays, aside from Hanukkah , the meal begins with blessings over candles and wine. After all, the plot of the Scroll of Esther itself hinges greatly on community. The cookies are shaped in their triangular way to commemorate the hat that Haman wore, according to tradition.

That tradition is quite ancient, Krasner says. It is celebrated as a semi-holiday. The Tachunun prayers of supplication are not to be recited at synagogue on this day. Falls in the Hebrew month of Kislev, which usually corresponds with December. Comprised of the Mishnah and the Gemara, it contains the opinions of thousands of rabbis from different periods in Jewish history.

Slang: a long and tedious story or explanation. We use cookies to improve your experience on our site and bring you ads that might interest you. Join Our Newsletter Empower your Jewish discovery, daily. Sign Up. In order to punish Mordecai, Haman decided to exterminate the whole Jewish people. So Haman went to the King and told him that he ought to get rid of the Jews.

There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm.

Their laws are different from those of every other people's, and they do not observe the King's laws; therefore it is not befitting for the King to tolerate them. The King gave Haman his signet ring so that Haman could give orders in the King's name and told him to get on with it.

Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews-young and old, women and little children-on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. Mordecai persuaded Esther to beg the King for mercy for the Jews. In fact, Mordecai didn't actually persuade Esther - he tried to frighten her into doing it:.

Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish.

Going to see the King was risky for Esther, because if you approached the King without being invited you could be executed. And the King hadn't sent for Esther for a month. Esther fasted for three days to prepare herself, as did all the Jews in her town, and then went to see the King. Fortunately he was pleased to see her, and she wasn't executed.

He welcomed her, and she, eventually, told him of Haman's plan to exterminate the Jews. She begged the King to show mercy to the Jewish people. The appalled King granted it at once and the Jewish people were saved. The King had a problem, since it was not within his power to rescind the orders that Haman had given in his name. So Xerxes issued another decree, which allowed the Jews to defend themselves against those who tried to kill them.

As a result, the Jews killed over 70, of their enemies. The villain Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had built to execute Mordecai, and Mordecai was given Haman's job in his place. The book of Esther is the only book of the Bible that does not contain the name of God. In fact, it includes virtually no reference to God. God ensures that good wins in the end: although the villainous Haman seems to be getting his way at first, in the end he is defeated. God is always there, even when unseen: this interpretation comes from the fact that God is never mentioned in the Book of Esther, but is clearly there, in the faith, trust, and loyalty of the Jews.

God plans ahead: God makes Esther Xerxes's queen in order to provide the way in which the Jews will be saved from death - even though the events which will threaten the Jews have not yet occured. Women are property: King Xerxes believes he has the right to parade his wife before the diners at an all-male feast that he has organised. Male authority must be preserved: when Queen Vashti disobeys the King, who wants her to display her beauty before his male guests, this is seen as an attack on male authority in every sphere.

The Queen is deposed and probably done away with to ensure that the tradition of male superiority is not damaged, and that wives are reminded that they must obey their husbands. Women are no more than animals: the search for a new queen to replace Vashti is conducted with as much humanity as might have gone into selecting a new mare for the King's stables.

Character, intellect and wisdom count for nothing, only the physical matters. What the King wants is a beautiful virgin. The whole search is conducted like a beauty contest; even down to the contestants having to spend a year in a beauty parlour first. Women's wishes are secondary: nor are the wishes of the women given any respect - taking part in the selection process is compulsory for the women concerned.

Women are unimportant: even as Queen it's clear that Esther lives entirely on the King's terms. The King ignores her needs: he doesn't want her all that often, perhaps once a month; her own needs are unconsidered.

On a political level women are downgraded since at the end of the Book of Esther, the author ignores the Queen's achievements, and concentrates on praising Xerxes and Mordecai. Women are brave: both Vashti and Esther display considerable courage in difficult and oppressive situations.