Purim

Join the Jewish pantomime…

Adloyoda (Purim Parade), Maale Adumim, 2011 by Avital Pinnick, on Flickr

When: Varies, March 7th 2012, February 23rd 2013.
Where: Jewish Communities.

Purim is a fun and festive Jewish holiday celebrating the deliverance of the Jews from their enemies, and the most important Purim custom is the reading na d re-enactment of the Purim story – the story of how arch-villain, Haman, cast the “pur” (the lot) against the Jews yet failed to destroy them.

People usually dress up as characters from the story (or nowadays even their favourite film character or in other fancy dress costume) and attend synagogue for the reading. Whenever Haman’s name is mentioned people will boo, howl, hoot and shake noisemakers (groggers) pantomime style. This tradition for dressing comes from the way Esther concealed her Jewish identity at the beginning of the Purim Story. Most synagogues also host Purim Parades called Adloyada.

Food & Drink

As with most Jewish holidays, food plays an important role in Purim. People send mishloach manot (baskets filled with food and drink) to each other. According to Jewish law each mishloach manot must contain at least two different kinds of food that are ready to eat. On Purim Jews also enjoy a festive family meal with hamantaschen (special Purim cookies) for dessert. It is also tradition for adults of drinking age to get so drunk, apparently so that they can’t tell the difference between Mordechai (the hero in the Purim story) and Haman (the villain).

Travel to Israel

Holon and Haifa is Israel have big celebrations and parades. Tel Aviv is the nearest International airport to both places. Book flights and hotels with ebookers.com. You may need to search for flights and hotels separately.

Dates / venues may be subject to change or cancellation. Distances may be straight-line estimates. Please verify information before booking.

Enjoy your trip! And when you’re home we’d love you to come back and tell us all about it!