The Jewish people have a long-standing history of other people trying to kill them. What is more worth noting, however, is their long-standing history of surviving, thriving, overthrowing their captors, and winning victory over their enemies. One example of this can be found in the book of Esther. While I have no doubt that you are familiar with the story of Esther, let’s have a quick refresher.
Esther lived in the Persian empire during the reign of King Xerxes, which spanned from around 486 to 469 B.C.E. In the beginning of the story, we read that Xerxes had his wife, Vashti, barred from being in the king’s presence ever again for refusing to present herself to be ogled by the king and his friends who had been drinking strong wine and partying. Once Vashti had been absent for a while, the king decided he wanted a new queen so he wrote to all his provinces requesting the most beautiful virgins be sent to the palace. One of these beautiful women was Esther. Her uncle, Mordechai, instructed her not to tell anyone that she was Jewish.
It didn’t take long for Xerxes to decide that Esther was the one and he soon made her queen in Vashti’s place. Not long after this, Mordechai overheard an assassination plot against the king. He told Esther what he’d heard and she reported it to the king, giving Mordechai full credit. The men in question were found and hanged and the king’s life was saved.
Then comes Haman (Boo!). Haman was a high-ranking official in Xerxes’ court who demanded everyone bow down to him. Mordechai, however, refused to bow down to Haman. So, like any man with a god complex would do, Haman decided that, not only should Mordecai die for this disrespect, but so should all of Mordecai’s people: the Jews. So Haman took his silver tongue to the king and convinced him that the Jews should be killed. The king agreed and gave Haman his signet ring to seal the deal. And Haman threw lots, or “pur”, to decide what day the genocide would take place.
When Mordechai found out about the decree, he sent word to Esther, imploring her to use her position to save their people. Perhaps she was placed in that position for just a time as this. It took Esther a couple of tries before she summoned the courage–but she did, and when the king realized Esther was Jewish and that her people would be killed, along with the man who saved his life, he became furious, ordering that Haman be hanged on the gallows Haman had built to hang Mordechai. The king then issued another decree, giving the Jewish people the right to defend themselves from the attack that was soon to take place. When the day came, the Jewish people overpowered those that hated them, and came out victorious. “…these days would be remembered and observed throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim would never cease among the Jews or their memory be lost by their descendants” (Esther 9:28). Thus, Purim became the first holiday outside of the Torah to be designated as one to be celebrated for all time.
Purim is what’s referred to as a minor holiday. This is because it is not one of the Torah holy days the Lord requires of His people to observe. This being the case, why should we celebrate it? Let me answer that question with another question: Why are we called to wear tzitzit, to write His words on our door frames, to keep the Sabbath every week, to celebrate His appointed feasts and festivals? Everything is a reminder. Everything declares Him and His presence, reminds us of some important aspect of our God. And everything He has asked of us is by its very design meant to keep turning us back to Him. To remind us of who He is and how far He has brought us. Purim too serves as a reminder of God’s goodness and provision. That is why we celebrate it. And also because it’s a lot of fun and, let’s be honest, who doesn’t want an excuse to eat good food.
Which brings us to the celebration itself. How does one even go about celebrating Purim? According to the Bible, observers are called to rejoice for two days over God’s victory over the enemies of his people. In the midst of that rejoicing, here are some common Purim customs:
- Read the book of Esther! There are a lot of fun ways to go about this. Of course you can sit by yourself or with family and/or friends and read it together, but my personal favorite way is with a little pomp and circumstance. A little pizazz and theatre! Performance is a big tradition for this holiday, with many families and groups putting together a dramatized version of the story, dressing up in costumes and picking people to play the different characters. If a full blown production isn’t your jam, even a dramatic reading can make this custom that much more fun and engaging.
- Making some noise. Another fun and engaging activity is making noise during the reading or performance of the Book of Esther. In many homes, the children are given noisemakers and each of the main characters of the story is assigned a word or sound to be said whenever that character is mentioned. For example, when we read the name Esther, everyone in the audience may say, “awww” together. When we hear Haman’s name, though, everyone begins a chorus of booing and generally disgusted sounds, while making noise with the various noisemakers.
- Costumes. This one was covered a little bit in number 1, but it is tradition to put on costumes and dress up on Purim, even if playacting isn’t your jam. Most commonly, the costumes are Esther related, but some families like to go all out and dress in all manner of costumes.
- Hamantaschen. These cookies look like little tricorn hats and are usually filled with jam, seeds, icing, or whatever other fillings float your boat. They are a wonderful and delicious treat, just for Purim.
Some other traditional Jewish traditions for Purim include giving gifts of food to friends, feeding the poor, and giving to charity. The great thing about these kinds of holidays is that they leave room for you and your family to pick and choose what customs and traditions are the most meaningful for you, while also leaving room to create your own! The most important thing is that you take time to remember and reflect on the goodness of our God and remember that He always comes through.
Here are some of the ways your Messiah Texas Board families celebrate!
The Serrano family celebrates Purim in 4 main ways. They always read the story with interactive reactions, they love to dress up in costumes (theatre family), Hamantaschen and other snacks are a must, and most importantly, they reflect on God’s grace to always preserve His people and His word.
The Porter family sees Purim as a time to remember how God worked behind the scenes to make sure His people were not annihilated. How His faithfulness may not look like what we think, but is ALWAYS there if we look. Over the 12 or so years the Porters have celebrated Purim, they have dressed up as characters from the book of Esther, tried many different ways of reading the story (with all of the appropriate sound effects), and enjoyed the delightful Hamantaschen.
The Darby family loves to make Purim a time of joy. With three young children, this is the perfect holiday to make learning fun and teach their children about God’s faithfulness even when it doesn’t always make sense. They have enjoyed making crafts, yummy snacks, reading the story of Esther in a fun way, and singing silly songs. Their children have come to look forward to this time as a day they can dress up and show their creative sides with a fun costume.
