What is Purim and why do we celebrate it: the story of Purim, what to wear, what we eat, and how it's done in Israel

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It's Purim! So when Baby Brother Zev and his girlfriend Osnat came down to DC to peep some cherry blossoms, I made them come to tell you all what is Purim, the super-fun Jewish dress-up party where we celebrate a narrow escape from mass murder and eat cookies named for the bad guy's hat. Or ears. Or pockets apparently. Depends who you ask.

Get to the bottom of what the heck Hamantaschen are supposed to be, what is the story of Esther, what to wear for Purim, how they do it in Israel, and who really said "Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History." (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 the Torah (the Five Books of Moses), the Nevi’im (the Prophets) and the 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”, it often also refers to “good deeds” in general but means 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.  

MORE:

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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