Purim

Ta'anit Esther - ‎ Fast of Esther        

“They had established for themselves and their descendants the matters of the fasts and their cry.” Esther 9:31 (KJV)

The Fast of Esther (Ta'anit Esther‎) on the 13th of Adar (before Purim) commemorates the three-day fast observed by the Jewish people in the book of Esther.  Because this is not one of the four public fasts ordained by the Prophets, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and those who are weak are not required to observe it.

PURIM

Purim is the celebration of the deliverance of the Jews from an enemy bent on their destruction. It is celebrated on the 14th and 15th day of Adar (usually in March). 

Purim is the plural of the Hebrew word “pur”, which means lot (used to determine something by chance). It refers to Haman’s use of lots to choose the date for his intended destruction of the Jews.

Throughout the book of Esther, "...the name of God is not there, but His finger certainly is," wrote Matthew Henry. "His providence is obvious – quietly, but sovereignly at work in the lives of men and women."

Although Purim is a minor festival from a religious point of view (it is not mentioned in the Torah as a Feast of the Lord), people celebrate it with fervour.

Until 2 AD, Purim was called “the Day of Mordechai”, or “day of Protection”. People observed the holiday by reciting the story of the Megilah* (Scroll) in their homes and by exchanging gifts.

The Talmud describes public readings during the Second Temple period. Priests were instructed to stop their service in the Temple and listen to the recitation. This practice ended with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

With the canonizing of the book of Esther and the appearance of synagogues, public readings in Hebrew and other languages became widespread. Between the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 5th century AD, the reading of the Hebrew Megillah was universally accepted. The liturgy was the same, but the drama, colour, merrymaking and pageantry varied from country to country. 

During the middle Ages, the celebration was enlivened by masquerades, jesters, musicians and actors. Noisemaking and selecting a Purim queen or king is traced to 14th Century France. Purim plays originated from the 16th century.

Fettmilch's demise and the return of the Jews to Frankfurt

In 1615, in Frankfurt, Germany, a local baker pronounced himself the “new Haman” and organized an attack against the Jews of the town.  Although they fought back, they were driven out of town, and had to leave their possessions behind. A few months later, the city's ruler realized what injustice had been done. A band welcomed the Jews back to Frankfurt, the baker was killed and his house destroyed. A plaque described his misdeeds and punishment. From that day on, Purim became a special celebration for the Jews in Frankfurt.  During the festival they read a special Megillah recalling their story.

The walking type of theatre, the Purim “shpil” eventually became stage performances. Until World War II, in Germany and Eastern Europe performances took place during the month of Adar. 

In Western Europe, North America and Israel, the emphasis was more on Purim masquerade parties for adults and children.

The book of Esther is usually written on a parchment scroll from a kosher animal. The Megillah (scroll) is often illustrated (permitted because the name of God is not mentioned in it).  

The scroll is read in synagogue on the eve of Purim and the next morning. Each time the name of Haman is mentioned, the people use their ra’ashan (greggers) and stamp their feet to drown out Haman’s name.

Purim is a feast of gladness, and the only time people are allowed to get drunk – so they no longer remember whether it was Mordechai or Haman who was to be praised or cursed.

During this festival, people send misloach manot (gifts to the poor). It is also customary to give money. In synagogue, just before the reading of the Megillah, male congregants often donate coins as a reminder of the custom that every Jew over twenty years old, paid half a shekel for the upkeep of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Because the city of Shusan was a walled city, an extra day was added for the celebrations. This is the reason why a walled city like Jerusalem celebrates Purim on the 15th of Adar. Purim is an official school holiday in Israel and the streets are filled with children and adults wearing various costumes, funny hats or wigs.

Oznei Haman

Oznei Haman or Haman Tashen (Haman’s ears) are three-cornered cookies which are a favourite Purim treat. One of the fillings is poppy-seed, called “mohn”  in Yiddish, which sounds a bit like “Haman”. Oznei Haman refers to the old European custom of cutting off criminal’s ears before they were hanged.

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PURIM SAMEACH - HAPPY PURIM

© 2024  Petra van der Zande

Exerpt from the book: Remember, Observe, Rejoice – A guide to the Jewish Feast, Holidays, Memorial Days and Events. 

Available through www.lulu.com or at Jerusalem Baptist Church

The book is also available in Dutch, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Traditional and Simplified Chinese. 

TU B’SHVAT - THE NEW YEAR OF TREES

Excerpt from the book "Remember, Observe, Rejoice" © Petra van der Zande

"As others have planted for you, so you will plant for your children."

Leviticus Rabbah, 28

Tu B’shvat, the 15^th of the Hebrew month of Shvat (end of January, beginning of February) is not mentioned in the Bible. However, the Mishnah (part of the Talmud), describes it as the "New Year for trees". Israel’s rainy season is usually over by now, but people still hope for the blessing of the "latter rain". This holiday marks the revival of nature, which is symbolized by the budding of the almond tree.

Leviticus 19 tells us what was expected from the Israelites when they entered the Promised Land:

“When you come to the land and you plant a tree, you shall treat its fruit as forbidden; for 3 years it will be forbidden and not eaten. In the fourth year, all of its fruit shall be sanctified to praise the Lord. In the 5^th year you may eat its fruit.” (NIV)

Having a specific date as the New Year for trees also helped with the law of tithing – 1/10^th of the farmer’s fruit had to be donated to the priests.

Biblical tithes were: 

•        Orlah - refers to a biblical prohibition (Leviticus 19:23) on eating the fruit of trees produced during the first three years after they are planted.
•        Neta Reva'i - refers to the biblical commandment (Leviticus 19:24) to bring fourth-year fruit crops to Jerusalem as a tithe.
•           Ma'aser Sheni - was a tithe which was eaten in Jerusalem.
•         Ma'aser Ani - was a tithe given to the poor (Deuteronomy 14:22-29) that were also calculated by whether the fruit ripened before or after Tu B'shvat.

 During the Second Temple period it was customary to plant a tree when a child was born - a cedar for a boy (referring to its height and strength), and a cypress (smaller and fragrant) for a girl. When the child married, the wood of the tree was used to make the chuppah, the wedding canopy.

Throughout the ages, the diverse Jewish communities in the Diaspora developed all kinds of customs to celebrate this day. In the beginning of the 19^th century, when the first Jewish settlers began to redeem Eretz Israel, part of their work was to plant trees on the barren and eroded hills.

On Tu B'shvat, January 25, 1890, Rabbi Zeev Yavetz and his students set a good example by planting trees in the agricultural colony of Zichron Ya’akov.

The idea to plant trees on Tu B'shvat, was in 1908 adopted by the Jewish Teachers Union and later by the Jewish National Fund (Keren haKayemet leIsrael), who, amongst other endeavours, began to oversee the forestation of the Land of Israel.

Many of Israel’s major institutions have chosen this day for their inauguration ceremonies.

The cornerstone of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was placed on Tu B'shvat 1918, and the first stone of Haifa’s Technion was laid on the same day in 1925. The first Jewish parliament of the Jewish sovereign State chose to hold its first Knesset session on Tu B'shvat 1949.

On Tu b’Shvat it is customary to eat the types of dried fruit mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:8 (the Seven Species). Some Orthodox Jews make candy from their Etrog (one of “Four Species” during Sukkot) and eat it during Tu B'Shvat.

Tu B'shvat is sometimes called the Jewish Arbour day. 

The highlight of the holiday is planting a new sapling in the soil of Eretz Israel, the Jewish homeland. 

Tu B'Av - the Jewish Valentine's Day

Tu B'Av (the fifteenth of the month Av) is a minor Jewish holiday. 

Historical significance

According to the Mishna, Tu B'Av was a joyous holiday in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, marking the beginning of the grape harvest. Yom Kippur marked the end of the grape harvest. On both dates, the unmarried girls of Jerusalem dressed in white garments, and went out to dance in the vineyards (Babylonian Talmud, tractate Ta'anit 30b-31a). That same section in the Talmud states that there were no holy days as happy for the Jews as Tu B'Av and Yom Kippur. The holiday celebrated the wood-offering brought in the Temple (see Nehemiah 13:31). Josephus refers to it as the Feast of Xylophory ("Wood-bearing").

• Various reasons for celebrating on Tu B'Av are cited by the Talmud and Talmudic commentators:     While the Jews wandered in the desert for forty years, female orphans without brothers could only marry within their tribe, to prevent their father's inherited land in the Land of Israel from passing on to other tribes. On the fifteenth of Av of the fortieth year, this ban was lifted. (See Daughters of Zelophehad.)
• That same year, the last of the generation of the sin of the spies, which had been forbidden to enter the Promised Land, found that they were not destined to die. For forty years, every Tisha B'av night, the Jews made graves for themselves in which they slept on Tisha B'Av; every year a proportion of them died. In the 40th year, the fifteen thousand who had remained from the first generation went to sleep in the graves and woke up the next day to their surprise. Thinking they made a mistake with the date, they did this until they reached Tu B'Av and saw a full moon. Only then did they know they were allowed to live.
• The Tribe of Benjamin was allowed to intermarry with the other tribes after the incident of the Concubine of Gibeah (see Judges chapters 19–21).
• Cutting of the wood for the main altar in the Temple was completed for the year.
• King Hoshea of the northern kingdom removed the sentries on the road leading to Jerusalem, allowing the ten tribes to once again have access to the Temple.
• The nights, traditionally the ideal time for Torah study, are lengthened again after the summer solstice, permitting more study.
• The Roman occupiers permitted burial of the victims of the massacre at Bethar during the Bar Kochba rebellion. Miraculously, the bodies had not decomposed, despite exposure to the elements for over a year.

Modern times

Tu B'Av marks an informal "high" to counter the "low" of The Three Weeks leading up to Tisha B'Av. It has become a romantic Jewish holiday, often compared to Valentine's Day, and has been said to be

a "great day for weddings, commitment ceremonies, renewal of vows, or proposing". Also, "It is a day for romance, explored through singing, dancing, giving flowers, and studying."

source: Wikipedia