Holidays are an important element in every culture. Holidays may have both religious and historical significance. For example, both Fourth of July and Thanksgiving have historical significance because they both involved the development of the United States when some of the colonists broke away from England; needless to say England doesn’t view either Fourth of July or Thanksgiving as a holiday; therefore English people don’t celebrate these holidays. I think this is because they are both holidays that are a sore subject to English people. Since holidays are an important element in every culture it should come as no surprise to anyone that there are many holidays in the Judaism that have religious significance. Some Jewish holidays include: Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Passover, Hanukkah, Purim, and Tu Bishvat. I celebrate and follow all of these Jewish holidays. Many people Jewish and Christian know about Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, and Hanukkah. However, many people have little or no knowledge about Purim. Here is some information about Purim.

Purim is a joyous Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of all the Jewish people at the time under the authority of the Persian Empire. Purim is characterized by the public recitation of the Book of Esther, giving mutual gifts of food and drink, giving charity to the poor, and a celebratory meal; other customs of Purim drinking alcohol, the wearing of masks and costumes, and a public celebration. The story behind Purim goes as follows. After the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah, the Jews were taken into seventy years of Babylonian captivity. When ancient Persia took control, Haman who was the royal vizier to the king planned genocide against the Jews but his plans were spoiled by Esther and Mordechai which illustrated God’s control of events. Therefore, the Jews went from being the “victims” of an evil decree against them to becoming the ones who were allowed to destroy their enemies. The day after the battle was designated as Purim, a day of feasting and rejoicing. Bring on the foods and beverages of Purim. The four main mitzvoth of Purim are as follows: listening to the public reading which usually takes place in a synagogue in the Book of Esther in the evening and then again on the following morning; sending gifts and beverage to friends and family; giving charity to the poor; and eating a festival meal. The Purim festival meal can include meat or milk dishes but Jewish dietary laws prohibit the mixing of meat and milk during meals. The Purim meal can also include bread, wine, tea, potato chips, chocolates, and other treats including some very special pastries that are shaped like triangles and that are filled with poppy seeds, apricots lemon curd or jelly, or prunes. The favorite flavor of these Purim sweet treats is apricot pastries. Another custom of Purim involves making much noise with either a drum or another musical instrument called a gragger that is used during the reading when Haman’s name is mentioned during the reading of the Megillah as Jewish tradition dictates in order to erase a name that is considered in Jewish culture to be evil. The history and the culture behind the story of Purim are interesting.