The feast of Purim.

This feast is not mentioned in Leviticus 23, and therefore is not considered a "holy" feast.
Purim is the plural of the Hebrew word "pur", which means lot- the object used to determine something by chance- and it refers to Haman's use of lots to choose the date for his intended destruction of the Jews. The feast of Purim is all about the Book of Ester in the Bible.

There are no historical documents to verify the story of Purim. There are different openions among scolars of whom there are those who believe that it really happened some time between 486 and 465 BC when Xerxes was Persian king and that Xerxes and Ahasuerus is identical. If it is a true story it must have happened when the Jews were in Babylonian Exile.

Purim is fun time for Israeli children. They have dress up parties in kindergardens and at schools followed by a short holiday.
One of the nice things about Purim is that people give baskets with sweets to family and friends.
I remember this to be one of the highlights during the year when my girls were small. They would come with me to the shop and choose sweets for the baskets and later help me fill them up and wrap them with a transparent colored plastic wrap. The baskets had both ribbons and a blessing on it for the family we wanted to pass it on to. My girls loved to take these baskets and deliver them to our neighbors. ----Of course we got some baskets too.........the girls were thrilled to have all those sweets in the house and I enjoyed this "giving and sharing with our neighbors"
holiday.

Last year, however, something happened which put an end to this fun. A family of Messianic believers received a Purim basket which exploded when their their teenage son picked it up. Jewish terrorists used this sweet holiday tradition to cover explosives. The bomb was powerful enough to kill him but as by a miracle he did not die. His body, however, got filled with shrapnel and he was in critical condition as they brought him to hospital. This young boy has spent most of his time at the hospital undergoing numerous operations since this happened last year.

Purim used to be a feast to celebrate that the Jews overcame an enemy determined to destroy them. Last years event turned this to be a day when Jewish terrorists turn against other Jews in an attempt to destroy them. What a sick thing to do....!!!

So, it was a little different to receive a Purim basket this year. I would never have picked it up if it had not been delivered by my neighbors in person.

Elin Elkouby