From the evening of March 23, Jews celebrate Purim

It is celebrated on the 14th day of the month of Adar

From the evening of March 23 to the evening of March 24, 2024, followers of Judaism celebrate the holiday of Purim. Although this day is a day off only for schoolchildren, it is one of the main ones for Jews of any age. In it, Jews remember the salvation of the Jewish people described in the Tanakh, the Jewish Holy Scripture.

The name of the holiday comes from the word “pur”, which, in turn, goes back to the Akkadian “pur” – “lot”. According to the book of Esther, part of the Tanakh and the Old Testament, the Persian king’s courtier Haman the Amalekite, irritated that the Jew Mordechai refused to bow before him, cast lots to choose the month in which he would try to exterminate the Jewish people through intrigue.

Mordechai once saved the King, and Esther, having learned that Haman had obtained the King’s consent to exterminate the Jews, stood up for Mordechai. To do this, she needed to violate court etiquette, risking her position and even her life, and appearing before Artaxerxes without an invitation. After Artaxerxes learned of Haman’s intrigues, he ordered him to be hanged on the gallows, which Haman himself had prepared for Mordechai. By that time, the royal decree on the extermination of the Jews had already been sent out and could not be canceled, so Artaxerxes issued a new decree allowing the Jews to resist the execution of the first one with weapons in their hands. This led to a period of battles from which the Jews emerged victorious.

The celebration of Purim, like Hanukkah, was established not by the Torah, but by the teachers of the law, which is why these days are working days in Israel. However, schoolchildren are allowed to skip classes, which is why the holiday is sometimes called “children’s”. At the same time, the significance of Purim is sometimes compared to the day when the Torah was given to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai.

Purim is celebrated on the 14th day of the month of Adar, but some cities in Israel celebrate this holiday on the 15th day – in these cities the struggle of Jews with their enemies lasted a day longer than in other places.

The annual calendar of the Jews is lunisolar, thanks to which each calendar date always falls not only on the same season of the year, but also on the same phase of the moon. According to this calendar, a new day begins at sunset, and therefore, like other holidays in Judaism, Purim begins to be celebrated in the evening. According to the Gregorian calendar, the holiday falls on different dates each year than the previous year.

On Purim, it is customary to publicly read the book of Esther from a scroll, and when the reader pronounces the name of Haman, those present make a noise by stamping their feet and whistling, as well as with special rattles. In this way, Jews express their hatred and contempt for the one who embodies anti-Semitism in Judaism. The tradition of making noise is believed to date back to the 13th-century custom of striking two stones with Haman’s name on them until the inscriptions were erased, thereby symbolically “erasing the memory” of him. The custom of making noise with a rattle has long been popular among children in Russia, although some rabbis believe that such behavior should not be done in the synagogue.

Another tradition is a carnival performance performed during a festive meal by one or more actors. One of the traditional dishes at the meal is sweet triangular cookies with poppy seeds or jam. It is called the “ears of Haman” or gomentashn, which can literally be translated as “pockets of Haman.”

In addition, on Purim it is customary to give money to those in need.