Purim is a happy time when sorrow, worry and fear take a vacation as the holiday of delicious food and jokes arrives. Purim is one of the most-anticipated and interesting of holidays on the Jewish calendar. It’s a celebration harkening back to the time when the Jews living in Persia were saved from destruction.

Book of Esther

The Purim story is contained in the Book of Esther in the Old Testament of the Bible. The heroine of the story is Ester, a beautiful young woman who lived in Persia, and the hero is her brother Mordecai. Ester was taken into the harem of king Ahasuerus and became queen, but the king didn’t know Ester was a Jew because she hid this from him. The villain of the story is Haman, the arrogant, egotistical vizier to the king. Haman hated Mordecai because he wouldn’t bow down and serve him, so Haman decided to destroy the Jewish people. In his well-known speech to the king, Haman said:

“There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them. If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries” (Esther 3:8-9)

The king gave the fate of the Jewish people over into Haman’s hands and allowed him to do as he will. Haman planned to kill all the Jews. Mordecai convinced Esther to speak with the king on behalf of the Jewish people. It was a dangerous thing for Esther to attempt, since anyone attempting to enter the king’s presence without permission could be put to death, and she hadn’t been invited. Esther fasted for three days and through Mordecai called upon all the Jews in Persia to do the same in preparation for the audience with the king. When she did enter the king’s house, she found favor with him and was allowed to live and speak. Eventually she explained to him Haman’s treacherous intentions and the Jewish people were saved. Haman was hung on the very same gallows he had built to hang Mordecai.

Esther is the only book in the Bible which does not mention the name of God and contains almost no allusions to God. Mordecai only vaguely hints that someone else will rescue the Jews, if not Esther. So one of the important ideas to emerge from this story is that God often acts in such a way that it’s unclear whether or not it’s all accidental, coincidental or merely cause and effect.

There is a special Purim pastry called hamantashen or oznei Haman (Haman’s bags or Haman’s ears). Traditional hamantashen have poppy-seed, jam or dried fruit filling, although popular food websites have led to innovations.