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Purim
Purim is one of the most celebrated Jewish holidays. It commemorates the victory of the Jews against the annihilation plan of Hamman the Agagite, as recounted in the Biblical Book of Esther.
204 Questions
Purim
According to Jewish tradition, Haman wanted to murder every single Jew and made preparations to achieve just that. This was even more heinous than Hitler's view where he "only" wanted to murder every Jew in the territories he controlled. If the Jews are allowed to have great revulsion towards Hitler, how much more should they have for a person who actually attempted to remove them entirely from history.
What was a harem in Queen Esther's day?
It was a building set aside for the King's concubines, who were waited upon by maidservants and guarded by eunuchs.
In which book of the Bible would you find haman the son of hammedatha?
Esther.
Esther was the heroine and central figure in the Biblical book of Esther, which is the source of the Jewish festival of Purim. She was crowned about 55 years after the destruction of the First Temple, and fifteen years before the Second Temple was built. The Jews were in the Babylonian exile. A few of them, such as Nehemiah, Mordecai and Daniel, rose to positions of prominence under the Babylonian kings.
The last of the Prophets of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) were still living.
King Cyrus had recently made his famous proclamation (2 Chronicles 36:22-23) allowing the Jews to resettle Judea (Israel), and some had gone up with Zerubavel, but the enemies of the Jews had then slandered them (Ezra ch.4), causing the Babylonian king to put a stop to the rebuilding and resettlement of Judea. This last event was around the same time that Esther became Queen.
When she became orphaned, she was adopted by her cousin Mordecai. Later, when Queen Vashti refused to appear before Ahasuerus (in Esther ch.1), Memuchan, a Persian royal adviser, advised King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) to remove Vashti from being Queen of Persia, and King Ahasuerus agreed to his advice. In Esther Chapter 2, royal eunuchs advised Ahasuerus to look for a new queen. Esther was the best-looking woman, and Ahasuerus picked her to replace Vashti as Queen.
Esther and her cousin Mordecai (who had once saved the king's life) later persuaded the king to cancel an order for the extermination of the Jews in his vast realm, which had been plotted by the king's chief minister, Haman. Instead, Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai, and the Jews were given permission to destroy their enemies. The Jewish festival of Purim celebrates this event.
According to tradition, the book of Esther was written in the mid-4th century BCE, and was made part of the Hebrew Bible canon which was sealed a couple of decades after.
Esther was queen for about 11 years.
The name of Mordecai is the Judaised pronunciation of Marduka, which is attested in the Persepolis Texts as the name of officials in the Persian court during the period of Xerxes I. One of these officials was the biblical Mordecai. The grave of Mordecai and Esther still stands in Hamadan; and the Jews of Iran, to this day, are referred to as "the children of Esther."
For the name of Esther, a number of etymologies are possible.
1) Esther comes from the Persian "setareh," meaning "star".
2) Esther comes from the Aramaic "istahar," meaning "moon." Beautiful as the moon (Talmud, Megillah 13a).
3) Esther comes from the Semitic root ath-tar, "morning star." There is support for this too in the Talmud (Yoma 29a).
4) Esther comes from the Median "astra," meaning "myrtle." The book of Esther (2:7) states that she had both names, Esther and Myrtle (Hadassah in Hebrew).
What was the meaning of Purim to the Old Testament Jews?
It is unclear what the question is actually asking.
1) The Book of Esther, upon which Purim is based, came at the end of the Old Testament, so if this is referring exclusively to the time period of the Old Testament, Purim would not have meant anything because it did not exist.
(It would be like asking what did the Treaty of Paris of 1783 mean to the American Colonists during their early history.)
2) Jews today still use exclusively the Old Testament and Jews claim that their religion has not changed since those days. To Jews today, Purim signifies how God intervenes and protects the Jewish people even without performing a Deus Ex Machina like he did in Egypt.
What do Jewish children do on Purim?
They dress up and go around giving Gifts - Mishloach Manot - to friends, as well as going to the synagogue to hear the Megilla and later joining in the festive meal.
* get dressed up * have a great party * get presents * get off school * eat hamman ears and nuts * drink
When was Haddasa name change to Esther?
When she was sent to the palace, her cousin and husband Mordechai changed it.
What special clothes are worn or foods eaten at Purim?
During Purim, it is customary to wear festive and often extravagant costumes, reflecting the celebratory nature of the holiday. Traditional foods include hamantaschen, which are triangular pastries filled with various fillings like poppy seeds, fruit preserves, or chocolate. Additionally, a festive meal called a seudah is often enjoyed, featuring a variety of dishes that bring friends and family together in celebration.
What unusual feature does the Book of Esther have?
What cookies are made on Purim?
Oznei Haman in Hebrew or Haman tashen in Yiddish. the shape of the Oznei haman is triangle a little cookie that has some jam of poppy seeds in the middle common food for Purim.
By Holly Rusher
When did Esther marry King Ahashverosh?
It is unknown when the story of the Jews of Shushan, Persia actually took place, but popular estimates place it around the 3rd or 4th Century BCE.
It is permitted to engage in the kinds of labor that are prohibited on the Sabbath and festivals, i.e., traveling, writing, using electricity, cooking, etc., especially for the purpose of performing a mitzva or enjoying the day.
It is strongly discouraged, however, to treat Purim as a normal workday, and it is written that one who engages in such labor will not derive benefit from it (Shulchan Aruch 696:1).
What was Esther's relationship with God?
Actually, even though the name of God is never mentioned in the book of Esther, His presence and divine providence are evident. He allowed Esther to become the Queen of Persia, even though, as a Jewess she was an unlikely candidate. God also gave her protection and favor with the King when she asked to enter his presence, because in those days you could very well be killed for seeing the King without being asked to be seen. And thirdly, the circumstances by which Haman's plot was discovered and he was brought to justice show evidence of a God who was very much concerned with and involved in the situation of Esther.
Which feast of the Jews was instituted by Esther?
Purim.
Esther was the heroine and central figure in the Biblical book of Esther, which is the source of the Jewish festival of Purim. She was crowned about 55 years after the destruction of the First Temple, and fifteen years before the Second Temple was built. The Jews were in the Babylonian exile. A few of them, such as Nehemiah, Mordecai and Daniel, rose to positions of prominence under the Babylonian kings.
The last of the Prophets of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) were still living.
King Cyrus had recently made his famous proclamation (2 Chronicles 36:22-23) allowing the Jews to resettle Judea (Israel), and some had gone up with Zerubavel, but the enemies of the Jews had then slandered them (Ezra ch.4), causing the Babylonian king to put a stop to the rebuilding and resettlement of Judea. This last event was around the same time that Esther became Queen.
When she became orphaned, she was adopted by her cousin Mordecai. Later, when Queen Vashti refused to appear before Ahasuerus (in Esther ch.1), Memuchan, a Persian royal adviser, advised King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) to remove Vashti from being Queen of Persia, and King Ahasuerus agreed to his advice. In Esther Chapter 2, royal eunuchs advised Ahasuerus to look for a new queen. Esther was the best-looking woman, and Ahasuerus picked her to replace Vashti as Queen.
Esther and her cousin Mordecai (who had once saved the king's life) later persuaded the king to cancel an order for the extermination of the Jews in his vast realm, which had been plotted by the king's chief minister, Haman. Instead, Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai, and the Jews were given permission to destroy their enemies. The Jewish festival of Purim celebrates this event.
According to tradition, the book of Esther was written in the mid-4th century BCE, and was made part of the Hebrew Bible canon which was sealed a couple of decades after.
Esther was queen for about 11 years.
The name of Mordecai is the Judaised pronunciation of Marduka, which is attested in the Persepolis Texts as the name of officials in the Persian court during the period of Xerxes I. One of these officials was the biblical Mordecai. The grave of Mordecai and Esther still stands in Hamadan; and the Jews of Iran, to this day, are referred to as "the children of Esther."
For the name of Esther, a number of etymologies are possible.
1) Esther comes from the Persian "setareh," meaning "star".
2) Esther comes from the Aramaic "istahar," meaning "moon." Beautiful as the moon (Talmud, Megillah 13a).
3) Esther comes from the Semitic root ath-tar, "morning star." There is support for this too in the Talmud (Yoma 29a).
4) Esther comes from the Median "astra," meaning "myrtle." The book of Esther (2:7) states that she had both names, Esther and Myrtle (Hadassah in Hebrew).
The holiday of Purim always begins on the evening of a full moon, but there is no such term as a purim moon within Judaism.
What does ester do with king in the Purim story?
Following King Ahasuerus' decision to end Vashti's status as his queen because she refused to dance (some say naked) in front of guests at a feast, he orders all the young women of his kingdom to be brought before him so that he can pick a replacement. One of them is Esther, a beautiful Jewish woman, who is the adoptive daughter of Mordecai, her cousin. However, the king does not know that Esther and Mordecai are Jewish.
Not long after, Mordecai stumbles across a plot, formulated by two palace courtiers named Bigthan and Teresh, to kill Ahasuerus - he informs the king of the plot and his dutiful service is recorded.
Later, Ahasuerus appoints Haman as his prime minister. Haman is rather full of himself once he gets this job and begins demanding that anyone further down the social scale than himself bow down before him. However, Jews will not bow down before anyone except for G-d and so Mordecai refuses. Angry at what he sees as disrespect and an insult, Haman forms a plan to put not just Mordecai to death but all the Jews in the kingdom too, and he gets Ahasuerus' permission to do it. He casts lots (the same as when the numbers are drawn in a modern lottery) to choose the right day to carry out the massacre, and 13 Adar (a date in the Hebrew calendar) is picked.
Mordecai finds out about Haman's plans and orders all the Jews to fast and carry out acts of penitence in the hope that they may be saved by Divine intervention. Esther also finds out what is going on and orders a further three days of fasting, then she organises a feast at which both Ahasuerus and Haman will be present. In the meatime, Haman has once again been insukted by Mordecai and builds a gallows from which he will be hanged. During the night before the feast, Ahasuerus is unable to sleep. The court records are read to him (presumably because he has an instinctive feeling that he's missing something, not because the court records were so boring they'd make him sleep) and he learns that Mordecai was responsible for preventing Bigthan and Teresh's plot but that he was never given a reward for this. Ahasuerus asks Haman what should be done for a man that a king wishes to honour and Haman, still suffering from an over-inflated ego since getting the prime minister job, assumes the king means himself so he says that a man receiving such honour should be dressed in royal finery and paraded around the city for all to see and admire. Haman is even more angry to find out that the king means to do this for Mordecai and not for him.
During the feast, Esther tells the king that both she and Mordecai - the woman whom he loves and the man who saved his life - are Jewish (though the Book of Esther doesn't go into lurid details, most people assume she used her feminine wiles to help make her case). In doing so, she persuades Ahasuerus that the Jews are worthy people to whom he owes thanks, and so the king orders that Haman be hanged on the gallows that were intended for Mordecai. To thank Esther for revealing the truth and in recognition of what the Jews have done for him, Ahasuerus allows Esther and Mordecai to write a legal decree awarding new rights to the Jews in the kingdom and, because Haman's decree that all Jews be killed cannot be abolished, they write one giving Jews the legal right to defend themselves from attack. On 13 Adar, when the massacre was going to start, 500 men including Haman's ten sons attack the Jews in the city of Sushan, but all the attackers are killed.
So, to cut a long story short, we honour Esther (and Mordecai) during Purim because it was she that convinced King Ahasuerus to end Haman's attempts to massacre Jews and gave them the right to prevent similar attempts in the future.
What are Haman ears called in Purim?
If you're referring to the cookies eaten during Purim, they're called either Oznei Haman (Haman's ears) or Hamantashen (Haman's hat).
