WELCOME TO JEWISH TREATS Guide to Celebrating Purim Welcome to Jewish Treats Guide to Celebrating Credits Purim. Shake your grogger, eat some haman- Founder: tashen and get dressed in your silliest costume... Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald it’s Purim! Jewish Treats Guide to Celebrating Edited By: Sarah Rochel Hewitt Purim offers fun facts and inspiring insights into Content: the four major Purim mitzvot and the customs Sarah Rochel Hewitt that make this holiday a unique celebration for Social Media: all. We hope that you will use this guide to truly Susanne Goldstone Rosenhouse enhance your own Purim celebration. Table of Contents From everyone at NJOP and The Story of Purim ....................................1 Jewish Treats, we wish you a Reading the Megillah ...............................2 Purim Sameach and a Freilichen Purim! (That’s how The Purim Feast........................................4 you say “Happy Purim” in Mishloach Manot ......................................5 Hebrew and Yiddish). Matanot La’evyonim .................................6 Other Purim Customs ...............................7 “This Little Piggy Went to Shul” ................8 Jewish Treats Guide to Sukkot The Purim Story At the end of a 180-day feast, the King of they return for a second feast on the next day. Persia-Medea, Achashverosh, banished (some say executed) his wife, Vashti, for refusing to That night, Achashverosh instructed his minister appear at his banquet. He then staged an to read the royal Book of Chronicles to help him elaborate beauty contest to find a new queen. sleep. The Minister read how Mordechai saved the king’s life. Achashverosh realized that he In Shushan, the capital city, lived Esther (also never rewarded Mordechai. Just then, Haman called Hadassah), a beautiful orphan raised by arrived to ask the king for permission to hang her cousin, Mordechai, one of the leaders of Mordechai. Before Haman could speak, how- the Jewish people in exile. When the king’s ever, the king instructed Haman to reward agents came to take her to the palace, Mordechai for revealing an assassination plot by Mordechai instructed her not to reveal that she immediately leading him through town, dressed was a Jewess. After a 12 month beauty in royal robes, on the royal steed. contest, Esther was chosen to serve as queen. After returning home feeling thoroughly In the palace yard, Mordechai overheard two humiliated, Haman was summoned to the men plotting to murder the king. He quickly palace to dine with the king and queen. At sent word to Esther, who revealed the plot to the end of the meal, Esther told the king that the king in Mordechai’s name. The plotters someone was seeking her death and the were executed, and Mordechai‘s name and death of her people. Outraged, the king heroic deed were written in the King’s Book demanded to know who. Esther identified of Chronicles. Haman as the archenemy. Achashverosh appointed Haman the Agagite Haman was hanged from the very gallows (an Amalekite) as Prime Minister. Haman’s ire at that he had built for Mordechai. His 10 sons Mordechai was inflamed when Mordechai were also hanged. refused to bow down before him (the Midrash informs us that Haman wore a necklace with a Achashverosh appointed Mordechai as his Prime large idol). Haman asked Achashverosh for Minister. The Jews were permitted to defend permission to destroy the Jews. The king agreed themselves against those who would try to harm and issued an edict stating that on the 13th of them. When the 13th of Adar arrived, the Jews Adar, the Jews in all the provinces were to be successfully defeated their enemies (although exterminated and their property kept as plunder. in Shushan the battle continued throughout the day of the 14th of Adar). The ten sons of Mordechai told Esther about the plot and asked Haman were killed and their bodies were her to seek mercy from the king. Esther agreed, hanged publicly. The Jews celebrated their sur- but requested that all the Jews fast for three days vival with great feasts, thus the 14th (outside of and repent for their sins while praying for the Shushan) and the 15th days of Adar are the heavenly decree to be reversed. days for celebrating Purim. Mordechai also codified the particular practices of the holiday Esther, welcomed by Achashverosh, simply of Purim: the reading of the Megillah, the festive requested that Achashverosh and Haman join her meal, gifts of food and charity to the poor. for a private feast--at which she requested that JeJewishwish TreatsTreat sGuide Gui de to SukkotCelebrating Purim 1 The Reading of the Megillah: Megillat Esther, the Scroll of Esther, is the official record of the remarkable story of how Esther and Mordechai saved of the Jewish people from Haman’s evil plot. On What Is A Megillah? the holiday of Purim, there is an obligation to read this scroll aloud (or to hear it read) once on Purim night and Technically, a megillah is a rolled scroll. Specifically, once on Purim day. This obligation applies to all adult the term megillah is used to describe the five Jews. canonical works from the Ketuvim (Writings) section In order to fulfill the mitzvah of listening to the Megillah, of the Bible that are read in the synagogue on it is necessary to hear every word during the reading. different holidays. For this reason it is imperative that there be no talking during the Megillah reading. This rule is surprising for The five megillot are: all who are familiar with the wide-spread custom of children twirling “groggers” (noisemakers) and adults SHIR HA’SHIRIM - The Song of Songs - written by loudly booing Haman’s name in the midst of the King Solomon and read on Passover. reader’s solemn chanting. The Torah, in Deuteronomy 25:19, commands the RUTH - The Book of Ruth - written by Samuel and Jewish people to “blot out the remembrance of read on Shavuot. Amalek.” Since Haman was a direct descendent of Amalek and the villain of the Purim story, it became EICHAH - Lamentations - written by Jeremiah and customary in the Middle Ages to “blot out” his name read on Tisha B'Av. whenever the name “Haman” is read in the Megillah. The noisemakers specially designed for making noise KOHELET - Ecclesiastes - also written by King during the Megillah reading are popularly known as Solomon and read on Sukkot. groggers (Yiddish) or ra’ashonim (Hebrew). It is important that, ESTHER - The Book of Esther - written by Mordechai even when blotting and Esther and read on Purim. out the memory of Haman, one When preceded with a definite article, however, “the remembers to stop Megillah,” refers specifically to the Book of Esther. and listen to the Megillat Esther is the only one of the five megillot rest of the reading that everyone is obligated to read/hear. as well. Jewish TreatsTreats Guide Guide to SukkotCelebrating Purim 2 Make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. (Esther 9:22) Jewish TreatsTreats Guide Guide to SukkotCelebrating Purim 3 Feasting and Gladness Food is often central to the way in which Jews celebrate. From the three meals of Shabbat to the elaborate rituals of the Passover Seder, almost every Jewish holiday begins with a feast. Unlike the festive meals of Shabbat, Rosh Hashana, Passover, Sukkot or Shavuot, the Purim seuda (as a feast is called in Hebrew) is in commemoration of an actual feast that took place in the time of Esther. In fact, the Purim story contains numerous important feasts. The Book of Esther opens with a description of a great royal feast (which lasted several months), and a smaller feast for the citizens of Shushan that lasted one week. It was during this second feast that Queen Vashti disobeyed the King and lost her crown. Without these events, Esther would not have been in a position to help the Jews. Feasting is also the means by which Esther revealed Haman’s wicked plot to King Achashverosh. Esther invited both the King and Haman to two private feasts. During the first, she said nothing. During the second she outrightly accused Haman of CAN WE DRINK THAT? plotting to destroy her and her people. Purim is known as the holiday for drinking, so Jewish Finally, and most importantly, the Jews enjoyed a feast Treats presents you with a quick guide to kosher alcohol. to celebrate their victory over those who sought to destroy them. In the midst of this feasting, they stopped BEER--Almost all basic non-flavored, to give gifts to the poor and send food baskets to their domestic beers are kosher, even without friends. certification, because beer is made from only water, barley, yeast, and hops, and any additions alter The bare minimum to fulfill the mitzvah of a Purim the end product. Flavored beers, stouts and beers seuda (meal) requires that one wash and eat bread from some European and Asian countries do need and then recite the bentching, the Grace after Meals. supervision, due to additional ingredients. The Purim meal is normally held later in the day so that the feasting and rejoicing carries over past sunset into WINE--Wine is used for sanctification in the next day. Traditionally, this is a deluxe meal with many cultures, therefore Jewish law wine and other alcoholic beverages. requires that the wine (or grape juice) that Jews consume be entirely processed by other Jews Purim is well known for drinking because wine plays an to ensure that no “idolatrous” wine is added. A important role in the unfolding events: reliable kosher symbol is required on the bottle. * King Achashverosh is drunk when he calls for Vashti SPIRITS & LIQUORS--Because of the and when he orders her punished.