Purim
Festival of Lots
Purim is a Jewish holiday commemorating the deliverance of Persian Jews from a plot to destroy them, as told in the Book of Esther.
Celebrated in late winter, it involves reading the Megillah (Esther scroll), giving gifts of food, charity to the poor, and festive meals.
Costumes, noisemakers, and drinking are traditional: The kids dressed up for the Purim carnival.
Triangular Purim cookies
- costumeClothing for portrayal
- maskFace-worn concealment
- masqueradeDeceptive act or costume party
- carnivalTraveling amusement attraction
parade · spiel · noisemaker · booing · revelry · drinking · merriment · parody
Hebrew name meaning star
- MordecaiPurim story protagonist
- HamanBiblical court schemer
- megillahElaborate, exhaustive narrative
- ShushanAncient Persian royal city
synagogue · celebration · deliverance · salvation · miracle · Persian · Jewish · commandment
Triangular Purim cookies
- kreplachStuffed Jewish soup dumplings
- poppy seedMinute edible kernel from flower
- pastryButtery baked dough
- triangularThree-cornered in form
filled · baking · sweet · gift basket · treats · cookies · prunes · jam
Wound document of parchment
- villainWicked story antagonist
- heroineBrave female protagonist
- gallowsExecution hanging apparatus
- plotStoryline or land parcel
decree · fasting · banquet · royal · palace · conspiracy · reversal · triumph
Items freely given
- poorLacking sufficient resources
- donationVoluntary charitable gift
- generosityReadiness to give freely
- givingTransferring to another
obligation · community · neighbors · friends · baskets
hamantaschen
Triangular Purim cookies
- costumeClothing for portrayal
- maskFace-worn concealment
- masqueradeDeceptive act or costume party
carnival · parade · spiel · noisemaker · booing · revelry · drinking · merriment · parody · skit
Esther
Hebrew name meaning star
Shushan · synagogue · celebration · deliverance · salvation · miracle · Persian · Jewish · commandment · festive
hamantaschen
Triangular Purim cookies
- kreplachStuffed Jewish soup dumplings
- poppy seedMinute edible kernel from flower
- pastryButtery baked dough
triangular · filled · baking · sweet · gift basket · treats · cookies · prunes · jam · chocolate
scroll
Wound document of parchment
plot · decree · fasting · banquet · royal · palace · conspiracy · reversal · triumph · genocide
gifts
Items freely given
- poorLacking sufficient resources
- donationVoluntary charitable gift
- generosityReadiness to give freely
giving · obligation · community · neighbors · friends · baskets
- Hebrew BibleTanakh, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers
- Israeli culturefalafel, hummus, kibbutz, Tel Aviv, Hebrew
- Jewish theaterFiddler on the Roof, Yiddish theater, survivor stories, Jewish identity, antisemitism
- JewishTorah, Shabbat, kosher, rabbi, synagogue
- JudaismShabbat, kosher, Passover, Torah, Hanukkah
- costume eventscostume party, masquerade, masquerade ball, costume ball, Halloween party
PurimYom Kippur
Annual Jewish atonement observance
Tisha B'Av · Day of Atonement · fast day · High Holy Days · Selichot
PurimTisha B'Av
Jewish fast commemorating calamities
Holocaust Remembrance Day · Kristallnacht · pogrom · exile · expulsion