Thursday, December 15, 2005
The Celebration of Purim
"When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. Yet having learned who Mordecai's people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes. In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan [keep this month in your head until a later post], they cast the pur (that is, the lot) in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar." (Esther 3:5-7 NIV)
Adar begins between February and March. It is the last month before the new sacred year. Haman had determined that he was going to kill all Jews in the Persian Empire. However, Esther pleaded for her people, and in the month of Sivan, King Xerxes created a new decree that the Jews have the right to "protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate any armed force of any nationality or province that might attack them." (Esther 8:11) The Jews were allowed to carry out this decree on the 13th of Adar.
"This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. That is why rural Jews--those living in villages--observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other. Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor. ... The days were called Purim, from the word pur." (Esther 9:17-22, 26a)
Today, Purim is celebrated on the 14th except in Jerusalem, where it is observed on the 15th.
Adar begins between February and March. It is the last month before the new sacred year. Haman had determined that he was going to kill all Jews in the Persian Empire. However, Esther pleaded for her people, and in the month of Sivan, King Xerxes created a new decree that the Jews have the right to "protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate any armed force of any nationality or province that might attack them." (Esther 8:11) The Jews were allowed to carry out this decree on the 13th of Adar.
"This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. That is why rural Jews--those living in villages--observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other. Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor. ... The days were called Purim, from the word pur." (Esther 9:17-22, 26a)
Today, Purim is celebrated on the 14th except in Jerusalem, where it is observed on the 15th.
# posted by Wesley Son of Cornelius @ 11:20 AM 
