What is Purim? When is Purim? Is Purim really "the Jewish Halloween"?

In this fun repost, Baby Brother Zev and then-girlfriend, now-wife Osnat set us straight about the super-fun Jewish dress-up party where we celebrate a(nother) narrow escape from mass murder, drink wine and eat cookies named after the bad guy. They are now back in Israel, but at the time were on a short stint living here in the U.S.

It's the whole Megillah: Get to the bottom of whatever the heck Hamantaschen are supposed to be, the story of Purim, Queen Esther, Purim constumes, how they do it in Israel, and who really said "Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History." (Spoiler: it was Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Harvard professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich) Also featured: the Israeli tradition of Michloach Manot, why Esther is not in the Torah, and whether Esther and Mordecai are really from the Enuma Elish.

GLOSSARY:

Chag Purim Sameach: Happy Purim! “Chag” means holiday, “sameach” means happy, and Purim is the name of the holiday

Tanach (also spelled Tanakh): the name of the full Hebrew bible, is an acronym for: Torah (the Five Books of Moses), Nevi’im (the Prophets) and Ketuvim (the Writings, also known as the Hagiographa)

Abba: Hebrew for Dad, it’s what Zeb and I call his dad, my stepdad.

Megillah/megillot (plural): meaning scrolls, it refers to the five scrolls included in the Ketuvim, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther

Adloyada: to drink until you can’t tell the difference, also the name of the big Carnivalesque parades in Israel.

Mitzvah: means “commandment,” but often refers to “good deeds." Basically, a thing you should do.

Vashti: The first wife of King Achashverosh (aka Ahasuerus) whose banishment or execution for refusing to dance nude in front of his friends clears the way for Esther to marry the king.

https://www.exploringjudaism.org/holidays/purim/esther/16-facts-about-purim-and-the-book-of-esther/

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-book-of-esther/

Jews not bowing when it constitutes some form of worship: https://torah.org/torah-portion/mikra-5772-purim/

Sushan Purim: https://reformjudaism.org/what-shushan-purim

Bonus: Origins of Halloween, from Throughline and Moses, as seen on South Park

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