Purim

The Jewish Festival of Lots — A Story of Survival, Joy, and Remembrance

14th of Adar in the Hebrew Calendar | פּוּרִים

Of all the festivals in the Jewish calendar, Purim is perhaps the most exuberant. A day of costumes and carnivals, of sweets shared between neighbours and charity given to the poor, of raucous synagogue readings in which the congregation drowns out a villain’s name with noise-makers and stamping feet, Purim is Judaism’s most theatrical holiday, a celebration that wears its joy openly and without apology. Yet beneath the festivity lies a story of extraordinary depth: a tale of courage and identity, of the precarious existence of a minority people in a hostile empire, and of the unexpected ways in which salvation can arrive.

The Story of Esther: A Tale of Courage and Cunning

Purim commemorates the events described in the Book of Esther, the Megillat Esther, one of the most beloved books of the Hebrew Bible. Set in the Persian empire during the reign of King Ahasuerus (widely identified with Xerxes I, who ruled from approximately 486 to 465 BC), the story unfolds in the royal capital of Shushan.

When the king dismisses his queen, Vashti, for refusing to appear at a royal banquet, a search is conducted for a new queen. A young Jewish woman named Hadassah, known by her Persian name, Esther, is chosen for her beauty and grace. On the advice of her cousin and guardian Mordecai, Esther conceals her Jewish identity at court. Mordecai, who keeps vigil at the palace gates, soon uncovers a plot to assassinate the king and reports it through Esther, saving the king’s life, though the deed goes unrewarded at the time.

The crisis arrives with the rise of Haman, the king’s chief minister, an Agagite of ancient enmity toward the Jewish people. Haman is enraged when Mordecai refuses to bow down before him, an act of defiance rooted in Mordecai’s Jewish convictions. Haman resolves not merely to punish Mordecai but to destroy every Jewish person in the empire. He casts lots, in Hebrew, purim, to determine the most auspicious date for the massacre, and the king, without knowing the full implications, issues a royal decree permitting the annihilation of the Jews throughout his domains.

Mordecai, learning of the decree, urges Esther to intercede with the king. Esther faces a terrible dilemma: approaching the king uninvited, even for a queen, was punishable by death unless the king extended his golden sceptre. In one of the most celebrated lines in all of Jewish literature, Mordecai tells Esther: “Who knows whether it was not for just such a moment that you came to your royal position?” After fasting for three days, Esther resolves to act: “If I perish, I perish.”

Through a series of brilliant manoeuvres, inviting the king and Haman to two private banquets, allowing tension to build, Esther reveals her Jewish identity and exposes Haman’s genocidal plot at precisely the right moment. The king, furious, withdraws to the garden; Haman, in desperation, throws himself on Esther’s couch to beg for mercy, only to be discovered by the returning king in what appears to be an assault on the queen. Haman is condemned and hanged on the very gallows he had erected for Mordecai. The king cannot revoke his own decree, but issues a new one permitting the Jews to defend themselves. They do so successfully, and the intended day of massacre becomes instead a day of Jewish triumph and celebration.

The Name and the Calendar

The name Purim comes directly from the story: the lots (pur, singular; purim, plural) that Haman cast to determine the date of the massacre. In a characteristic reversal, one that defines the spirit of the holiday, the very instrument intended to seal the Jews’ destruction gives the festival its name and its identity.

Purim falls on the 14th of Adar in the Hebrew lunisolar calendar, typically occurring in February or March of the Gregorian calendar. In Jerusalem and other ancient walled cities, a designation based on the walls believed to have existed in the time of Joshua, Purim is observed a day later, on the 15th of Adar, known as Shushan Purim in reference to the walled capital of the Persian empire. In leap years, when the Hebrew calendar adds an extra month of Adar, Purim is celebrated in the second Adar.

The Four Mitzvot of Purim

Jewish law prescribes four specific religious obligations, mitzvot, for the observance of Purim, each of which reflects a different dimension of the holiday’s meaning:

Kriat HaMegillah (Reading the Megillah): The Book of Esther is read aloud in synagogue twice, once on the eve of Purim and once the following morning. The congregation listens attentively, and whenever the name of Haman is read, they make noise with graggers (noisemakers), stamp their feet, and boo loudly to drown out the villain’s name. This joyful interruption turns the synagogue into something resembling a theatre, and children in costumes add to the festive atmosphere. The custom of making noise at Haman’s name has been traced to a Talmudic tradition of writing Haman’s name on stones and striking them together.
Mishloach Manot (Sending of Portions): Every adult is obligated to send gifts of food — at minimum two different food items, to at least one friend. These gift baskets, known as mishloach manot (or shalach manos in Ashkenazi pronunciation), are a cornerstone of the communal spirit of Purim. They are typically filled with hamantaschen, fruits, wine, sweets, and other treats, and the practice of sending them fosters bonds of friendship and community solidarity.
Matanot La’evyonim (Gifts to the Poor): Every adult is also required to give charity to at least two poor people on Purim day. The rabbis taught that this obligation should not be diminished even by those of modest means, the Talmud states that “whoever extends their hand on Purim should be given.” This mitzvah ensures that the joy of the holiday reaches every member of the community and reinforces the Jewish ethical imperative of caring for the vulnerable.
Seudah (The Festive Meal): Purim is marked by a festive daytime banquet, the Purim seudah, at which wine flows freely, songs are sung, and the table is laden with special foods. The Talmud famously states that on Purim one should drink until one cannot distinguish between “blessed is Mordecai” and “cursed is Haman.” While this is interpreted differently across communities, from literal consumption to simply drinking more than usual, the spirit is one of uninhibited joy.

Costumes, Carnival, and the Purim Shpiel

One of the most distinctive features of Purim, especially as it is celebrated today, is the wearing of costumes. Children and adults alike dress as characters from the Esther story (Esther, Mordecai, Haman, King Ahasuerus), as well as superheroes, historical figures, animals, and any number of imaginative creations. In Israel, Purim takes on a carnival-like atmosphere in many cities, with street parades and public parties that bear a superficial resemblance to Mardi Gras.

The origin of the costume tradition is debated, but many scholars connect it to the themes of concealment and revelation that run through the Book of Esther, Esther hides her identity, God’s hand is hidden (the Book of Esther is famously one of only two books in the Hebrew Bible that do not mention God’s name), and things are not what they appear. The costume is a physical expression of this theme: on Purim, surfaces are deceptive, and a deeper truth lies beneath.

Another beloved Purim tradition is the Purim shpiel, a comic theatrical performance, typically staged by synagogue communities or schools, that retells the Esther story with humour, satire, and song. The shpiel (from the Yiddish word for “play”) often lampoons community leaders, local events, and current affairs, creating a space of permitted irreverence that has deep roots in Jewish tradition.

The Foods of Purim: Hamantaschen and Beyond

No food is more associated with Purim than hamantaschen, triangular pastries filled with poppy seeds, fruit preserves, chocolate, or sweet cheese. The name means “Haman’s pockets” in Yiddish, though the Hebrew name oznei Haman means “Haman’s ears.” The triangular shape is thought by some to represent Haman’s three-cornered hat; others connect it to the idea of the lots he cast. Whatever the origin, hamantaschen are baked in vast quantities in Jewish homes and bakeries in the weeks leading up to Purim, and gifting them to friends and family is one of the holiday’s great pleasures.

Kreplach ,meat-filled dumplings, are also traditionally eaten on Purim in Ashkenazi communities, along with a variety of sweet and savoury dishes associated with the festive meal. Wine is central to the celebration, reflecting both the wine-drinking that appears prominently in the Book of Esther and the general spirit of joy that the rabbis prescribed for the day.

Hidden Miracles: The Theology of Purim

Purim occupies a theologically interesting position in the Jewish calendar. Unlike Passover, in which God’s intervention is dramatic and unmistakable, from the ten plagues to the parting of the Red Sea, the Book of Esther presents a world in which God is conspicuously absent by name. The salvation of the Jewish people comes through human agency: Esther’s courage, Mordecai’s vigilance, Esther’s strategic intelligence.

Jewish thinkers have interpreted this silence in many ways. Some see it as a reflection of the Persian diaspora experience, a world in which Jews lived among gentiles far from the Land of Israel, where the miraculous pillar of fire and the direct voice from Mount Sinai were replaced by the slower, quieter workings of providence through human action. Others see Esther as a paradigm of the “hidden miracle”, the idea that God works through seemingly ordinary events, through coincidence and timing, through the courage of individuals who choose to act.

The holiday also carries within it a recurring theme of Jewish existence: the threat of annihilation and the unexpected turn toward survival. This theme has given Purim a particular resonance across the centuries of Jewish diaspora history, and it continues to resonate with communities that connect the story of Haman to later persecutors of the Jewish people.

Purim Around the World

Purim is celebrated by Jewish communities on every inhabited continent, and the flavour of the holiday varies considerably from place to place. In Israel, Purim is a public holiday and the country erupts into colour, Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square hosts enormous street parties, and the week-long build-up resembles a national costume festival. Schools hold elaborate Purim plays, businesses decorate their windows, and the air is thick with the smell of freshly baked hamantaschen.

In the Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish tradition, the holiday has a warmth and boisterous humour shaped by centuries of observance in the shtetls of Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine. Sephardic communities, Jews whose roots lie in Spain, North Africa, and the Middle East, bring their own customs, foods, and liturgical melodies to the occasion. Ethiopian Jewish communities celebrate a distinct festival called Sigd that intersects in spirit with Purim’s themes, and Persian Jewish communities observe the holiday with a special connection to its setting in ancient Persia.

Joy as a Form of Resistance

There is a rabbinic teaching that when the month of Adar begins, joy increases. This is not merely a liturgical instruction but a profound statement about the nature of Purim. A people who have faced threats of extermination and emerged to celebrate, to feast, to dress in costumes and share sweets with their neighbours, that is a people who understand joy not as frivolity but as a form of defiance and affirmation.

Purim reminds its celebrants that the lot, the pur, that was cast against them did not prevail; that courage and identity and community were stronger than the designs of those who wished them harm. In a world that often feels uncertain and threatening, that is a message worth celebrating with noise-makers, triangular pastries, and all the uninhibited joy one can muster.

פּוּרִים שָׂמֵחַ — Chag Purim Sameach — Happy Purim