Purim Family Festival in Durham (and more info on Purim)

Purim is many Jewish kids’ favorite holiday. It’s got it all — costumes, pastries, noise, games.

Purim commemorates the thwarting of the plans to kill all the Jews in the Persian empire. The story is told in the Book of Esther, and dates to the 5th century BC.

Read on to learn a little bit about the holiday, the traditions associated with it, and how you can celebrate Purim in the Triangle. You might want to just jump to the local events.

In 2023, Purim starts the evening of Monday, March 6th, 2023, and ends the evening of Tuesday, March 7th.

The greeting on Purim is “Chag Purim Sameach,” which means Happy Purim.

VERY abridged synopsis of the story of Purim

In the story of Purim, the most important characters are King Ahasuerus, Esther, Mordecai and Haman.

The king marries Esther, who keeps her Jewish identity a secret. Her uncle Mordecai discovers a plot by two palace guards to kill the king. The guards are apprehended and hanged, and Mordecai’s service is recorded in the court’s records.

The king appoints Haman as his viceroy. Haman likes power. Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman, angering him. So Haman plans to have Mordecai killed, and, finding out that he’s Jewish, plans to kill all the Jews in the empire as well. He gets the go-ahead from Ahasuerus.

Mordecai finds out and convinces Esther to tell the king that she’s Jewish. She does so at a banquet, revealing that Haman is planning to kill all the Jews, which includes her. Ahasuerus is enraged and instead orders Haman to be hanged.

Historians differ on the historical basis of the story, but we’ll focus on the culture and traditions.

Purim Traditions

The celebration of Purim differs from community to community, depending on level of observance and local culture, but most celebrate in these ways:

Reading the story

At gatherings, members of the community or religious leaders recite the Book of Esther from the scroll called the Megillah. Have you heard the phrase “The whole Megillah?”

wooden noisemaker for purim called gragger — Photo: Depositphotos

During the reading, every time the name Haman is spoken, the listeners yell “Booo!” and shake noise-makers (called “groggers”) to drown out his name.

Food gifts and charity

It’s traditional to give food gifts, called “mishloach manot,” to others. Sometimes people put together many baskets of sweets, snacks and other food to give out.

It’s also traditional to give money to charities that help people in need.

Traditional foods

The most well known food associated with Purim is the hamantaschen. A hamantaschen is a sweet pastry, rolled out, filled with poppy seed, fruit, or other filling, and then folded into a triangle. The shape of the pastry is often said to represent the three-cornered hat that tradition has Haman wearing.

Kreplach, a dumpling filled with cooked meat, and served in soup, is also frequently enjoyed during Purim.

Costumes

There’s a long tradition of masquerading on Purim. At some Megillah readings, both children and adults dress in costume. At Purim carnivals, children dress in costume and play carnival games.

Traditionally children dress as characters from the story. You’ll see a lot of Esthers and Mordecais in particular. But, really, anything goes. In many communities, Purim is similar to Halloween — a really fun time for kids (and adults) to show their creativity and personality through their costumes.

Purim Spiel

A Purim spiel is a comical skit that can be a retelling of the Purim story, but also might not be. Today they revolve around anything that relate to Judaism at all, and include satire, music, and lots of silliness.

Purim in The Triangle

We will add more events when we learn about them.