The Jewish community will celebrate next Saturday March 11th the Festivity of Purim, what some people calls “Jewish carnival”, with which they remember the salvation of the Hebrew people before the imminent annihilation in Babylon.
During this day, in all communities the story of Purim is told through public reading of the Book of Esther and fancy dress parties are organized as a Carnival.
The story goes back to the year 450 BCE, when King Ahasuerus, influenced by the slanders of his minister Haman, had decreed the end of the Jewish presence in his land for the same 14 of Adar; But Queen Esther, of Jewish confession, convinces Ahasuerus and the decree is revoked.
The origin of the word Purim, the Hebrew plural of the Persian Pers meaning “luck”, refers firstly to the fact that the date chosen for destruction was cast and, secondly, that the Jewish town.
From the Middle Ages, in the Jewish communities it is customary to represent the history of Purim in what is known as Purim Shpil. From this tradition has derived the celebration of Purim as a carnival.
Among the customs is the Mishloaj Manot, which consists of sending to friends and relatives of sweets such as Oznei Haman, biscuits characteristic triangular form, or Matanot the Evonim, which consists in offering charity and alms to the poor.
Jews living outside Israel gather in the synagogue where the reading of the Book of Esther is carried out three times in a row. During the reading, which is done in an entertaining and didactic, when naming the “evil Amán” is sounded a kind of rattle to “turn off the sound of that name.”