A Purim Spiel, or Purimshpil, meaning a Purim play—shpil means 'game' or '(stage) play' in Yiddish. (See also spiel).
A Purim Spiel is usually a comic dramatization, as a traditional type of Jewish play, or informal theatrical production, with participants, usually children, wearing costumes that depict the characters in the story in the Book of Esther, the central text and narrative that describes what transpired on Purim and why it has become an important Jewish holiday.
A favorite form of a Purim Spiel for children is enacted in puppet shows with the Purim characters and their antics making the children laugh.
The festival of Purim contains much celebration of comic relief because the decree of the wicked Haman was annulled and the Jewish people living in the ancient Persian Empire were saved from the edict of death and genocide instigated against them by Haman and instead rejoiced at the downfall of their enemies at the hands of Queen Esther and her uncle Mordechai.
Some Jewish commentators have compared the Purim spiels with the Christian passion plays. [1]
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