Purim

"...the Jews took it upon themselves to establish the custom that they

and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe

these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time

appointed. These days should be remembered and observed in every

generation by every family, and in every province and in every city.

And these days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by

the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their

descendants." --Esther 9:27-28, NIV

Purim is a free-will offering. Not commanded by God, but instituted by man out of thanksgiving, it commemorates God's loving and creative plan to deliver His people from destruction.

FOUR MITZVOT (WORTHY DEEDS) OF PURIM:

1. Reading the entire book of Esther (the "Megillat Esther")

It is customary to read the entire book of Esther in the day and in the night. Since the Bible counts the evening before the morning (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, etc.), if you read the book after dawn but before the next sunrise, you have fulfilled this mitzvah. As we read, we cheer whenever we hear the names of Esther or Mordecai, and we boo and clang noisemakers to drown out the name of the evil Haman. Originally, books of the Bible were written on scrolls called megillah. It is traditional to read "the whole megillah" of Esther at one sitting during Purim.

For a free MP3 audio download of the book of Esther read by Aviad Cohen, from the Complete Jewish Bible, go to http://aviadcohen.com/fr_index.cfm

It is fun to put on a Spiel, or Purim play, acting out the book of Esther. This can be an especially fun way for children to learn the Bible, as they don costumes and learn parts.

2. Feasting and rejoicing

The miracles of Purim center around feasting and wine. Vashti lost her position during a wine feast. The Jews fasted and prayed before Esther enticed the King to listen to her cause by inviting him to two different feasts, both with wine. Therefore, eating and drinking are a large part of celebrating Purim.

Some customs suggest that eating and drinking to excess during Purim is part of the celebration. But drunkenness and gluttony are not vices that please God. The Bible says, "Be not among winebibbers; among gluttonous eaters of flesh; For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." (Proverbs 23:20-21, JPS)

The New Covenant says, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." (Ephesians 5:18, NIV).

A traditional Purim treat is hammantaschen, or Haman's Ears. In the U.S., many people say Haman's purse, or his hat.

TRADITIONAL HAMMANTASCHEN RECIPE

Ingredients: 1 1/3 cup shortening, 1 cup sugar, two eggs, 4 cups sifted all purpose flour + a little to dust the rolling surface, 6 tablespoons water, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, filling of your choice

Filling options: poppy seeds, Nutella, raspberry jam, orange marmalade.

Directions: Blend shortening and sugar together until creamy. Blend in eggs, one at a time, until creamy. Stir in water and vanilla extract until well mixed. Stir in flour, a little bit at a time, until blended. Put the mix onto plastic wrap, cover and chill thoroughly. When chilled, dust a rolling surface, and roll the dough to ¼ inch thickness. Use a round cookie cutter or the top of a glass to cut out circles. In each circle, place a teaspoon of filling. Pinch into three corners, with the filling peeking out from the center.

Bake on an oiled cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until golden. Makes about two dozen.

For almost-instant hammantaschen, use prepared sugar cookie dough. (Check ingredients. Some prepared doughs contain animal fat!) Fill and bake as above.

If Purim falls on a Friday, it is customary to eat early in the day, so that you have an appetite for the Sabbath meal.

3. Giving gifts to the poor

The tradition is to give two gifts to two poor people, one gift each, during the day, after the reading of the megillah. Even if you are living in want, you can find something to share: food, an article of clothing, etc.

4. Giving gifts to one another

The custom is to give a food gift that consists of at least two portions to at least one other person. You can send to as many people as you wish. The food or drink given should be something that may be consumed without any further preparation. It is preferred to send the gift by messenger rather than personally deliver it.

CELEBRATING PURIM

by Joy Marie Dunlap, editor of Family Discipleship magazine www.familydiscipleship.net

Used with permission

There are several fun things you can do to celebrate Purim.

When I was a child, my sister and I and our friends loved having an Esther beauty pageant. We used bathrobes over our dresses, and costume jewelry! A tiara can be fashioned easily out of pipe cleaners, preferably in silver or gold or other glitzy colors. The beauty pageant idea is not one we have done as a family. It is just something my sister and I did when we were kids.

You could also help your children put on a Purim play. One easy way to do this is to assign parts and then let them act out their part spontaneously. Or they can just read their part aloud from the Bible, with expression, as each one is able.

Another way is with a puppet play. We have done this for many years. I made 4 puppets out of socks: Esther, Mordecai, the King, and Hamman. I cut the bottom off of 4 socks, and made the bottoms into short little arms, which I sewed onto holes I cut on the sides of the socks. I stuffed the toes of the socks, to make the heads, and sewed them at the necks, just small enough to put my longest finger into.

I drew faces on these, with a mean face for Hamman (make eyebrows that slant in toward the nose, and any face will look mean), and a pretty face for Esther (add eyelashes, that does a lot, and make her eyebrows rounded and slanted slightly upward at the bridge of the nose for a look of innocence).

For hair, I pulled black socks (brown is okay too) over the tops of their heads to their foreheads, and sewed them on. This is a very quick way to make puppet hair. Cut the very end of the sock off for Esther, and cut it shorter for the other puppets. A ribbed sock is best.

I cut Esther's sock hair into strips, and sewed them into ringlets, twisting and sewing as I go (cute, but not necessary). I also cut beards for some of the puppets, but that's optional. I made a King's horse puppet just by using the heel as the top of his head, and adding ears, button eyes, and a pink felt tongue.

The costume for each puppet was the same pattern- just a plain flat fronted tunic with rectangles for loose sleeves. You have to pull the neck up the puppet body, which is limp, because if it fits over the puppet's head, it will fall off its body.

I made the costumes different by choosing interesting fabrics: a pretty fabric for Esther (I chose a silky turquoise), a royal velvet for the king, a gaudy fabric for the wicked Hamman, and a calm light blue striped fabric for Mordecai the Jew. I also made a sackcloth rectangle to put on Mordecai when he put on sackcloth and ashes after he discovered Hamman's plot to kill the Jews. (All you need is 1/4 yard per costume fabric, or less).

My husband had fun performing the puppet play as I narrated from the Bible when the kids were small. After a few years, they wanted to do the puppet play themselves, so my husband and I just became the audience. We used our omagles set for a puppet stage (pipes and panels, with connectors), but all you need is some furniture pulled out from the wall for the kids to hide behind. I've just let the kids ham it up and enjoy themselves. A couple times we had other families with kids their age over to enjoy the puppet show.

Another thing you can do, which is what our kids have said they want to do next, is to make a tape of the book of Esther. I have yet to see what the kids will do for that one. When the kids were younger, I came up with the ideas, but now they do, for the most part.

If I don't feel well enough for anything, and the kids are too busy, we watch a video of the story of Esther from CBD (Christian Book Distributors.) A little bit of editing is advised in just a few places, so watch it without your children the first time.

Hamman Taschen became a part of the Jewish Purim along the way. Hommon means poppy seeds, I think in Yiddish, and Taschen means pockets. Poppy seed pockets were baked by European Jews to celebrate God's victory against the evil, scheming Hamman, as a play on words (Hamman/Hommon). [See Recipes]

These are just 3 cornered tarts, and any kind of tart will do. In fact, they don't even have to have poppy seed filling in them. They are often made with jam, boiled date mixtures, or other fillings. We add to that our own little Esther coloring book (Jonathan, at ten, is still young enough to color) and it makes a fun celebration!

Joy Marie Dunlop puts out Family Discipleship Magazine for home based, Bible focused Christian parents. Her son and daughter also have a boys' and a girls' magazine. Their web site is www.familydiscipleship.net and their address is 2586 Pampas St., Orange CA 92865. Write for a free catalog.