Editing Purim (section)

{{short description|Jewish holiday}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=March 2022}}
{{Not to be confused with|Perim}}{{Infobox holiday
| holiday_name  = Purim
| image         = Purim by Arthur Szyk.jpg
| alt           = 
| caption       = ''Purim'' by [[Arthur Szyk]]
| date          = 14th day of [[Adar]] (in [[Jerusalem]] and all ancient walled cities, 15th of Adar)
| date{{LASTYEAR}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=last|cite=no}}
| date{{CURRENTYEAR}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=current|cite=no}}
| date{{NEXTYEAR}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=next|cite=no}}
| date{{NEXTYEAR|2}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=next2|cite=no}}
| celebrations  = {{ubl|Listening to the Book of Esther in synagogue;|sending [[Mishloach manot|food parcels]] and giving charity;|dressing up in [[Purim costume|costume]];|eating [[Seudat mitzvah#Seudat Purim|a festive meal]];|parties and parades (''[[Adloyada]]'');|drinking alcoholic beverages, especially [[kosher wine|wine]]}}
| type          = Jewish
| significance  = Celebration of [[Judaism|Jewish deliverance]] as told in the [[Book of Esther]] ({{Transliteration|he|megillah}})
| relatedto     = [[Hanukkah]], as a [[halakha|rabbinically]] decreed [[Jewish holiday]]
| startedby     = [[Esther]]
| frequency     = Annual
}}
{{Jews and Judaism sidebar}}
'''Purim''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ʊər|ɪ|m}};<ref>{{Cite OED|Purim|access-date=30 September 2024}}</ref> {{langx|he|פּוּרִים}} {{Audio|He-Purim.ogg|{{transliteration|he|Pūrīm}}|help=no}}, {{Literal translation|[[Cleromancy|lots]]}}{{efn|see [[#Name|Name]] below}}) is a [[Jewish holidays|Jewish holiday]] that commemorates the saving of the [[Jews|Jewish people]] from [[Genocide|annihilation]] at the hands of an official of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] named [[Haman]], as it is recounted in the [[Book of Esther]] (usually dated to the late-5th or 4th centuries BCE).<ref>{{cite book |title=Jews and Anti-Judaism in Esther and the Church |last=Miller |first=Tricia |publisher=James Clarke & Company Limited |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-227-90252-3 |page=15 }}</ref>

Haman was the [[Vizier|royal vizier]] to the [[List of monarchs of Iran|Persian king]] [[Ahasuerus]] ([[Xerxes I]] or [[Artaxerxes I]]; {{lang|peo-Latn|Khshayarsha}} and {{lang|peo-Latn|Artakhsher}} in [[Old Persian]], respectively).<ref>{{cite Jewish Encyclopedia |title=Ahasuers |year=1906 |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/967-ahasuerus |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703094127/http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/967-ahasuerus |archive-date=3 July 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopædia Perthensis, Or, Universal Dictionary of the Arts, Sciences, Literature etc. |volume=9 |year=1816 |publisher=John Brown, Anchor Close (Printers) |location=Edinburgh |page=82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S1cKAQAAMAAJ&q=Ahasuerus%2Bxerxes%20encyclopaedia&pg=PA82 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017044011/https://books.google.com/books?id=S1cKAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=Ahasuerus%2Bxerxes+encyclopaedia&source=bl&ots=yNxPwMHdA7&sig=HQabznGjWQ42ehzR_Cg2tM-Z4qk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=w2pDUvfZF4znigLV5oDoAg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Ahasuerus%2Bxerxes%20encyclopaedia&f=false |archive-date=17 October 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Law |first=George R. |title=Identification of Darius the Mede |year=2010 |publisher=Ready Scribe Press |pages=94–96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpEOkDk-gc8C&q=Ahasuerus%2Bxerxes+encyclopaedia&pg=PA95 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017044011/https://books.google.com/books?id=vpEOkDk-gc8C&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=Ahasuerus%2Bxerxes+encyclopaedia&source=bl&ots=9bLLvcTkWT&sig=Pp5Fp7sdum2Yr-aC4IM1VKZ3ZII&hl=en&sa=X&ei=umVDUrztN4iwigLNnYGADw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Ahasuerus%2Bxerxes%20encyclopaedia&f=false |archive-date=17 October 2015 |isbn=978-0982763100 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=First |first=Mitchell |year=2015 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jhUJrgEACAAJ |title=Esther Unmasked: Solving Eleven Mysteries of the Jewish Holidays and Liturgy |publisher=Kodesh Press |page=163 |isbn=9780692375426 |access-date=12 March 2023 |archive-date=10 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710164314/https://books.google.com/books?id=jhUJrgEACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> His plans were foiled by [[Mordecai]] of the [[tribe of Benjamin]], who previously to that warned the king from an assassination attempt and thus saving his life, and [[Esther]], Mordecai's cousin and adopted daughter who had become queen of Persia after her marriage to Ahasuerus.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt3302.htm |title=Esther 2 / Hebrew – English Bible |work=Mechon-Mamre |access-date=9 March 2020 |archive-date=9 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309024912/https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt3302.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing among Jews.

According to the [[Scroll of Esther]],<ref>{{bibleverse|Esther|9:22|HE}}</ref> "they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor". Purim is celebrated among Jews by:
*Exchanging gifts of food and drink, known as {{transliteration|he|[[mishloach manot]]}}
*[[Jewish_views_of_poverty,_wealth_and_charity#Poverty|Donating charity to the poor]], known as {{transliteration|he|mattanot la-evyonim}}<ref>{{cite web |first1=Elozor |last1=Barclay |author2=Yitzchok Jaeger |title=Gifts to the Poor |date=27 January 2004 |url=http://www.aish.com/h/pur/m/48969546.html |work=Aish.com |access-date=12 March 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427021216/http://www.aish.com/h/pur/m/48969546.html|archive-date=27 April 2014 }}</ref>
*Eating a celebratory meal with alcoholic beverages, known as {{transliteration|he|[[Seudat mitzvah#Seudat Purim|se'udat Purim]]}}  or "Mishteh"
*Public recitation of the Scroll of Esther ({{lang|he|קריאת מגילת אסתר}} {{transliteration|he|kriat megillat Esther}}), or "reading of [[the Megillah]]", usually in synagogue
*Reciting additions to the daily prayers and the grace after meals, known as {{transliteration|he|[[Al HaNissim]]}}
*Applying [[henna]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Monger |first=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o8JlWxBYs40C |title=Marriage Customs of the World: From Henna to Honeymoons |date=2004-11-23 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-57607-987-4 |language=en |access-date=18 February 2024 |archive-date=24 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324141117/https://books.google.com/books?id=o8JlWxBYs40C |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Henna Page - Henna Traditions of Purim in Kurdistan |url=http://www.hennapage.com/henna/encyclopedia/kurdjewish/purimbath.html |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=www.hennapage.com |archive-date=21 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221205421/http://www.hennapage.com/henna/encyclopedia/kurdjewish/purimbath.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ([[Sephardic Jews|Sephardic]] and [[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi]] Jews)

Other customs include wearing [[Purim costume|masks and costumes]], public celebrations and parades ({{transliteration|he|[[Adloyada]]}}), eating {{transliteration|yi|[[hamantash]]en}} ({{Translation|"Haman's pockets"}}), and drinking [[Kosher wine|wine]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Purim 2012 Guide |url=http://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/648312/jewish/Purim-2012-Guide.htm |publisher=Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center |access-date=5 March 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407190956/http://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/648312/jewish/Purim-2012-Guide.htm |archive-date=7 April 2012 }}</ref>

According to the [[Hebrew calendar]], Purim is celebrated annually on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of [[Adar]] (and it is celebrated in Adar II in Hebrew leap years, which occur 7 times in every 19 years), the day following the victory of the Jews over their enemies, the 13th of Adar, a date now observed in most years with the [[fast of Esther]]. 

In cities that were protected by a surrounding wall at the time of [[Joshua]], Purim is celebrated on the 15th of the month of Adar on what is known as {{transliteration|he|Shushan Purim}}, since fighting in the walled city of [[Susa|Shushan]] continued through the 14th day of [[Adar]].<ref>Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayyim 685:1</ref> Today, only in [[Jerusalem]] is Purim observed on the 15th,  and in several other biblical settlements (such as [[Hebron]] and [[Shilo (Israeli settlement)|Shilo]]) it is celebrated on both dates because of doubts regarding their status as cities [[Defensive_wall#Mesopotamia|surrounded by a wall]] since the days of Joshua. Some also celebrate both in [[Prague]] and [[Baghdad]].