What is Purim?

Article published on February, 24th 2021 in La Nación newspaper

This year, 2021, Purim starts from sunset on Thursday, February 25th, and ends in the afternoon of Friday, February 26th. Of course, due to pandemic protocols, there will be no crowded meetings, with dances and costume contests, although many of the traditional customs will surely be fulfilled: eating triangular sweets called “Amman’s ears” (reminiscent of the most evil character in this story), send edible gifts to friends, give food and / or money to those who need it and narrate the Megillat Esther, the story of the queen, a kind of Sherezade, who won the favors of the king and could save her people from a death to which they were sentenced to.

How will Purim be celebrated in the context of the Covid19 pandemic?

The provisions agreed by the Orthodox rabbinates regarding the care that must be taken in the upcoming ceremonies related to the Purim holiday contemplate measures in tune with the sanitary protocols of each city. In general it is established that prayers should be made in as many groups as necessary to avoid the concentration of people. Regarding customs:

• Festive meal: make it with the closest family and do not gather several families and even less, the general public.
• Sending a friend an edible gift “Mishlóaj Manot”: fulfill the right by sending two meals to one person. Do not increase in sending Mishloach Manot to several people.
• Edible gifts to low-income people, “Matanot Laebionim”: give at least one meal to two people living in poverty. This year it is recommended to increase aid to the needy and to try to make donations through digital means to the entities in charge.
• Parties, Parades, Dances and Celebrations: This year there should be no community Purim parties.

What do we remember in Purim?

Purim, which is celebrated on Adar, 14th , is the so-called month of joy in the Hebrew calendar. The story begins approximately 2350 years ago, when King Ahasuerus, sovereign of the Persian Empire, offered a great banquet to celebrate the three years of his rule. Many Jews honored by the invitation participated in it. During the celebration the king requested the presence of his wife Vashtí, who refused to comply with the royal request.

The king, then, sentenced her to death and immediately began to choose another wife, more helpful than the previous one. His advisers presented him a selection of the young ladies of the kingdom, and the king chose Esther as his new sovereign. She, following the advice of her uncle Mordechai , hid her Jewish origin. Mordechai was an adviser to the king and discovered that his partner, Amman, was organizing a conspiracy against Achashverosh and the slaughter of thousands of Jews living in Persia. The key piece that would help dismantle the plan would be his niece Esther, the new queen.

Who was Queen Ester?

Purim recalls the dramatic events narrated in the Scroll of Esther: in Persia during the reign of Ahasuerus (Achashverosh in Hebrew) the Jews were about to die instigated by the plans of Amman, the royal adviser, who had issued a decree of extermination. Fortunately (purim means “luck”) the Jewish people were saved thanks to the intervention in the performances of Esther and Mordechai.

The character of Queen Esther in times like today is highlighted more than in other times, when this celebration practically passed by for non-observant Jews. But in times when referents are searched, according to Rabbi Isaac Sacca, President of the Menora youth organization, “Esther’s positive leadership emerges as a beacon for a new generation of women, who seek to defend the rights of oppressed minorities. She is an example of courage and struggle. She represents all those women who pursue noble ideals and are willing to sacrifice their comforts in pursuit of social welfare, justice, freedom and peace ”.

Esther, an orphan of both father and mother, is raised by Mordechai. King Achashverosh falls in love with her, they get married and she moves into the palace. There her uncle Mordechai tells her about the dangers that threaten her people. Then Esther reacts and acts, saving her people and causing the villain’s downfall. At that moment Esther ceases to be a passive young woman who aspires to a life of comfort to become a leader. “Her character evolves: from mere passivity and resignation to the resolution and determination that characterize great leaders,” Rabbi Sacca presents her.

Source: www.lanacion.com.ar