The Bravery of Queen Esther at Purim!
Jewish people around the world will be celebrating the festival of Purim (Feast of Lots) this month, which takes place from the evening of Saturday 23rd to the evening of Sunday 24th March!
The holiday of Purim celebrates the bravery of Queen Esther and her cousin and guardian Mordechai who helped deliver the Jewish people from Haman’s decree of death to all Jews during the Persian period. Esther was the wife of a Persian king, Ahasuerus, and hid the fact she was Jewish.
As the story goes, Haman was an adviser to the king and when Mordechai refused to bow down before Haman, the latter was enraged and plotted to slaughter all the Jews in the kingdom. When Haman went to King Ahasuerus he said, ‘Do what you want to these people”. Esther had a decision to make: save herself and keep her religion hidden or reveal herself in an attempt to save her people. She chose the latter. The queen used an elaborate scheme to convince the king that Haman was up to no good, so instead of the Jews being on the receiving end of violence, Haman and his sons were hanged, and his evil plot was foiled.
Purim is traditionally celebrated with food, giving to charity and gatherings. In addition to reading the Megillah (Book of Esther), we dress up in costumes, have festive meals with friends and family including hamantaschen pastries, (commonly thought to be inspired by the villain of the story, Haman, with the triangular shape of the pastry symbolising his three-cornered hat), perform Purim spiels (humorous plays performed as part of the celebration of Purim), take baskets of food (mishloach manot) to friends and give gifts to the poor (matanot l’evyonim).
How will you be celebrating Purim?