The Purim holiday was celebrated throughout Israel on Wednesday evening and Thursday, with costumes, parades, gift-giving, and the traditional reading of the Scroll of Esther. Parties and parades took place throughout the country, as the lively festivities — commemorating the biblical tale of an averted genocide of the Jews in the Persian empire some 2, years ago — kicked off.
In Israel, many cities throw parades to mark the festivities, while others celebrate with large meals with friends and copious amounts of alcohol. Jerusalem and several other cities began their festivities Thursday evening, as part of a tradition that maintains that certain ancient walled cities mark the holiday a day later.
In Streetwise Hebrew for the Times of Israel Community, each month we learn several colloquial Hebrew phrases around a common theme. This year, due to Covid, synagogues will be limiting the amount of worshippers they let inside. Instead, people can tune into the livestreams of the Book of Esther and the torah readings from the safety of their homes. After the reading, usually a party begins. But this year, there will be no parties, parades or public gatherings.
Hamantashen is supposed to be the shape of Haman's ears, although some say it's the shape of his hat. These delicious cookies are filled with fruit jams, poppy seeds or chocolate, and are always shaped in triangles. Giving charity to the poor is also a big part of the celebrations, and for Purim, it is also traditional to give gifts of food to friends and family.
Usually a daylong celebration, Purim commemorates the deliverance of Jews from annihilation by the Persian King Ahasuerus. The story of Purim is told in the Book of Esther. In the Dutch Caribbean colonies of Suriname and Curacao, this meant role-switching and fireworks. Slaves pretended to be free; women and men cross-dressed; Christians masqueraded as Jews; and Jews—still disdained by Christians—got rowdy.
The noise inside the synagogue could rival the noise in the street. As Ben-Ur points out, all the European-origin settlers of Curacao and Suriname together amounted to only about ten percent of the total population. The great majority of these colonies were made up enslaved Africans and their descendants, with smaller numbers of Native Americans and Maroons former slaves who lived in autonomous communities. In the multi-ethnic, multi-religious Dutch colonies throughout the Caribbean, Jews comprised up to half of the European-origin population.
After that, Jews were no longer recognized as an official group and were made legally equal to other free peoples under civil authority. Because Esther hid her identity from the Persian tyrant, her masquerade resonated with Jews who had been forcibly converted by the Inquisition.
All this contributed to making Purim, traditionally a minor festival, a major holiday for the Jewish diaspora. Purim celebrates liberation from slavery and genocide. Ironically, some Jews in these Caribbean communities were slave-owners.
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