How Purim relates to Christians. It … But if you try to follow the tradition here, you soon realize that while dressing up is fun, when you are the only one who does it – let’s be honest, it’s just weird. The dates for Purim in the next few years are: 1. Just like on a cloudy day when we don’t see the sun but know it’s there, the story of Purim teaches us that God is involved, even when we don’t see His direct involvement. The story of Purim conveys a powerful theological statement that experiencing God’s miracles does not lie exclusively in the realm of the prophets, priests and supernatural miracles. Purim provides us with the happy-ending example where the Jewish people understand their role and purpose, and take responsibility to realize the king’s law: uniting above their differences and thereby securing their survival. Haman understood that the principle by which the Jewish nation came into being was unity. That is why, even if the custom of masks and disguises on Purim has come from somewhere else, it still finds a place in our tradition. It will continue to exist, as will the Torah and the Oral Law, which will never be nullified (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Megillah, 2:18). While “dispersed,” Queen Esther could be of no service to the Jews because they were breaching the king’s law. It will be Purim, a holiday where Judaism reminds that each one of us possesses the capacity to take control. Queen Esther then instituted the holiday of Purim for the day after the Jews were permitted to defend themselves. And this is exactly what makes Purim so important. It’s even harder to comprehend this book’s importance when we realize that not even once does God’s name appear in it, and none of the main characters are religious leaders, prophets or people with exceptional virtues. It celebrates G-D's… A Jewish girl, Esther, found favor in his eyes and became the new queen, though she refused to divulge her nationality.Meanwhile, the Jew-hating Haman was appointed prime minister of the empi… If the Jewish people would be asked to vote for the holidays they observed we will get in the first category Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur and Passover (in no particular order), while all the others in the second category struggle for some attention and do not often get it. Founder and president of Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute. MSc in Medical Bio-Cybernetics. This is what Haman emphasized to King Ahasuerus. The prophet Daniel is a model for this repentance. Purim is different from all other Jewish holidays in at least one very interesting aspect. It is a time of feasting, joy, and merriment. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its partners assume any responsibility for them. However, try as he might to be a positive force, he’s powerless to do so by himself. Aside from being fun to celebrate, why would a Christian have any interest in celebrating Purim? When King Ahasuerus had his wife, Queen Vashti, executed for failing to follow his orders, he arranged a beauty pageant to find a new queen. God’s presence is hidden from direct human perception. Although Purim was traditionally viewed as less than a major holiday, today it has been elevated to a higher status because of the unique Jewish historical experience – much in the same way that Hanukkah has been elevated to a larger status than was originally intended. Such a state of unity was achieved through the correction of egoism—exploitation of others for our own sake—to a state of love and bestowal. Something meaningful and dynamic is happening here at Temple Beth Am. 4-5, 2015 2. And yet, Am Israel Chai, we are alive and thriving. When they united, however, they reestablished themselves as a nation, exactly as King Ahasuerus commanded, making Haman’s claim fall short. Purim provides us with the happy-ending example where the Jewish people understand their role and purpose, and take responsibility to realize the king’s law: uniting above their differences and thereby securing their survival. Mar. It does not mean that we need to physically gather in Israel or anywhere else, just as the Jews in the Purim story didn’t need to leave the 127 provinces in which they lived to physically unite in Shushan. To better understand this point let’s look at our history some 2,000 years after the Purim story. Founder and president of Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute. Learn more about the traditions and history of Purim. What is the unity we Jews must reach now? At this point, a question arises: Why did Haman connect the Jews’ dispersion to their disobeying the king’s laws? Today, Jews must remember this history and set a positive example for everyone. In past years Fellowship Church has celebrated Purim with costumes, a reading of the Book of Esther followed by food and fellowship. In case of abuse, Michael Laitman is a PhD in Philosophy and Kabbalah. Purim is a holiday for Jewish people to not dwell on what could have happened, but instead, celebrate the end result. A dreidel (sevivon in Hebrew) is a spinning top, with four sides, each side featuring a different Hebrew letter: nun (נ), gimmel (ג), hay (ה) and either shin (שׁ) or peh (פּ).Why do Jews play dreidel? Find out more about ShulCloud. As we celebrate Purim this year, we can reflect on the faithfulness and deliverance of God that we see demonstrated throughout the Esther story. That’s why, for me, of all of the Jewish holidays, Purim is about having fun, feeling joyous, and spreading cheer. 11:11-24), Christians are the Gentile version of God’s people, the Jews. Purim is observed in some places exclusively on the 14th of Adar and in others, exclusively on the 15th (Shushan Purim). And we drink to the point of openly showing our inner spiritual joy. In this way, the challenge of Purim is greater. Sure, Purim was marked as the “holiday that would never be forgotten,” and celebrates the salvation of the Jewish nation. Just like the Purim story’s scenario in Shushan, the Jewish people today face special times when great forces of separation operate to tear us apart. Why is celebrating Purim relevant in the 21st century – or even at all? It celebrates the day of "rejoicing and feasting" that followed. Purim, a joyous Jewish festival commemorating the survival of the Jews who, in the 5th century BCE, were marked for death by their Persian rulers. 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