Across our community, Jewish people celebrated the festive holiday of Purim from sundown on Friday, March 13, to sundown on Saturday, March 14. This holiday celebrates the story of Queen Esther standing up for the Jewish people and their right to religious freedom.
“It’s important because it remembers a time when Jews couldn’t practice their religion the way they wanted to and are now able to do so freely and celebrate those choices with our community,” Sarah Silverberg, the Cantor at Kol Dorot: A Reform Jewish Community, explained.
The story of Purim is about a Jewish queen who saved her people from execution in the 5th century. It’s said that an adviser to Persian King Ahasuerus, a man named Haman, hated Jews and plotted to harm them. The new queen, Queen Esther, who was secretly a Jew, told the king, risking her life, that her people were being threatened by Haman. The king was shocked and punished Haman. Today, people in the Jewish community celebrate Queen Esther’s bravery. In the earlier years of the celebration, people dressed up as people from the story of Purim, but currently, Purim costumes are similar to those worn on Halloween except there are no witches or ghosts.
“Purim is my favorite holiday because I get to dress up in a funny costume while other people don’t get to dress up in costume,” Jordan Bronstein said. The best way to celebrate Purim is with friends and in costume.”
One reason why children who are not Jewish would be interested in Purim is because everyone gets to dress up, according to Silverberg. She adds that one of the best foods from Purim is called hamantaschen, a cookie that is traditionally filled with apricot or prune.
“We like to bake and eat hamantaschen and make lots of noise,” Bronstein said. “It’s hard to explain why Purim is so great. I love Purim!”
“Purim is a super fun holiday and it is also really meaningful. One of the commandments is to give gift baskets to friends and family. It’s called mishloach manot. I love it because it’s nice to think of your wider community,” Silverberg continued.
