The
word "Purim" was the winning word of the Scripps National Spelling
Bee in 1983.
G-d's
name isn't even mentioned once in the entire Scroll of Esther.
The
longest verse in the Bible is found in the Scroll of Esther (VIII: The original
text contains 43 words while the English translation has 90.)
The
day on which Purim is celebrated (14th of Adar) can never occur on, Sabbath.
The 15th of Adar does occasionally fall on the Sabbath. The Jews of Jerusalem,
who celebrate the 15th of Adar then must celebrate a "three day Purim".
On the 14th the Megillah is read; on the 15th the blessing "who wrought
miracles" is recited; and on the 16th the Seudah (Purim Feast) takes place.
Queen
Esther Street is found in the heart of Tel Aviv.
In
a speech of Hitler on-January 30, 1944, he said that, if the Nazis went down
in defeat, the Jews could celebrate "a second Purim".
The
Hadassah organization was founded on Purim in 1912.- Hadassah is another name
for Esther (Esther 11:.7).
A
most curious fact is that Mordecai is said to have descended from King Saul
and Haman from Agog, king of the Amalekites, whom Saul defeated. Many years
after this battle their great great grandchildren met once again in the court
of King Ahasuerus and relived the life and death struggle between Israel and
Amalek.
Purim
became in many lands the symbolic name for Jewish deliverance and whenever a
Jewish community was saved from a horrible fate, from pogrom or exile which
a Haman-like ruler tried to impose, the community would celebrate yearly, the
day of rescue as a special, local Purim, in the same manner as the universal
Jewish Purim.
The
Jews of Persia celebrate Purim with great splendor as that is where the story
was unfolded. The children of the religious schools spend weeks before Purim
studying the Scroll of Esther, and making a life-size figure of Haman to be
hanged in effigy on Purim. During the reading of the Scroll the children do
not use groggers when Haman's name is mentioned. They shoot off fireworks instead.
At night all dress in gay Purim costumes, sing songs, and send gifts to each
other.
