Netizens, for the Jewish people Purim begins this weekend on Saturday night.  Thus from me to you and your families, I wish you all a very joyous month of Adar, and a blessed and happy Purim sama’ach!…even if you don’t celebrate it!

Here is the general Purim story (in which the hero is a Woman), in Lego form:

Purim is Judaism’s most dramatic, fun-filled holiday. When else can you dress up like a bunny rabbit and eat doughy triangles filled with prunes and poppy seeds?

Purim occurs on the 14th of Adar. (In certain walled cities like Jerusalem, “Shushan Purim” is celebrated on the 15th of Adar.)

The main event is reading the Book of Esther.  Set in Persia 2,300 years ago, the “Megillah” (as it is commonly called) recounts how a seemingly unrelated series of events spun together to save the Jewish people from annihilation. The quickie version is as follows:

When King Achashverosh throws a huge six-month party and the queen refuses to follow orders, she is replaced by a new queen – Esther the Jewess. Esther’s uncle Mordechai, the leader of the Jews, uncovers a plot to assassinate the king — putting him also in a favorable position with the king. All this comes in handy when Haman, the king’s top advisor, obtains a decree to have all the Jews destroyed.

In the end, through a complex twist of events, Esther gets the decree reversed, Haman is hanged on the gallows, and Mordechai becomes prime minister.

The name Megillat Esther (Scroll of Esther) actually mean “revealing the hidden.” Unlike every other book in the Bible, Megillat Esther never mentions God’s name even once. The hidden hand of God is revealed through the maze of events. There are no coincidences.

Megillat Esther teaches us that life challenges work out for the best, because what appears as obstacles are really opportunities to develop ourselves for the better. And it all comes from God’s invisible hand that guides our fate, every step of the way.

-More information can be found here, and videos here.  Last year’s post can be found here.

{The Article}

One major aspect of the month of Adar, and of Purim specifically is the idea of JOY!  So, whether you are Jewish or not, enjoy this open thread and be happy!

-Oh, did I mention that one of the commandments of Purim is to drink heavily?

Tags: Joy, Judaism, Persia, Purim

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Humor, Iran, Israel, Judaism, Middle East, Music, Open thread, Religion, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.