Esther’s command confirmed these regulations about Purim and it was written into the records.”
- Esther 9:32 (TLV)
Purim, or the Feast of Lots, is celebrated on the 14th of Adar and is the yearly celebration of the events
that took place in the book of Esther. On this day, we remember that the evil Haman tried to annihilate
all of the Jewish people under Babylonian rulership and how GOD used Esther and Mordecai to save the
Jewish people from Haman’s wicked plan. We gather and read the book of Esther together and eat
traditional food, such as hamantaschen (three sided cookies). We also use this time to remember the
many times that wicked people tried to destroy the Jewish people, Israel, and how GOD protected and
continues to protect them today.
that took place in the book of Esther. On this day, we remember that the evil Haman tried to annihilate
all of the Jewish people under Babylonian rulership and how GOD used Esther and Mordecai to save the
Jewish people from Haman’s wicked plan. We gather and read the book of Esther together and eat
traditional food, such as hamantaschen (three sided cookies). We also use this time to remember the
many times that wicked people tried to destroy the Jewish people, Israel, and how GOD protected and
continues to protect them today.
Biblical References
“The king commanded that this be done. A decree was issued in Shushan and they hanged Haman’s 10
sons. The Jews in Shushan gathered together on the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and they killed
300 men in Shushan, but they did not put their hands on the plunder. Meanwhile the rest of the Jews
who were in the king’s provinces gathered together to protect themselves and to get relief from their
enemies. They killed 75,000 of their enemies, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. This
happened on the thirteenth day of Adar and on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of
feasting and gladness. But the Jews that were in Shushan had assembled on the thirteenth and on the
fourteenth and on the fifteenth they rested, making it a day of feasting and gladness. That is why the
rural Jews—those living in unwalled villages—make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of
gladness and feasting, a day of sending presents of food to one another. Mordecai recorded these
events and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
urging them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar every year as the days when the
Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their
mourning into celebration. These were to be days of feasting, celebration and sending presents of food
to one another and giving gifts to the poor. So the Jews agreed to continue the commemoration they
had begun, and do what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite,
the enemy of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur—that is,
the lot—to ruin and destroy them. But when it came to the king’s attention, he issued a written edict
that the wicked scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back on his own head, and
that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. (For this reason, these days were called Purim,
from the word pur.) Therefore because of everything in this letter and because of what they had seen
and what had happened to them, the Jews established and took upon themselves, upon their
descendants, and upon all who joined with them, that they would commemorate these two days in the
way prescribed and at the appointed time every year. These days should be remembered and observed
in every generation by every family and in every province and every city. These days of Purim should not
fail from among the Jews, nor their remembrance perish from their descendants. Then Queen Esther the
daughter of Abihail, and also Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter of
Purim. He sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of
shalom and truth, to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, just as Mordecai the Jew
and Queen Esther had decreed for them and just as they had established for themselves and their
descendants, matters regarding their times of fasting and lamentations. Esther’s command confirmed
these regulations about Purim and it was written into the records.” Esther 9:14-32 TLV
sons. The Jews in Shushan gathered together on the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and they killed
300 men in Shushan, but they did not put their hands on the plunder. Meanwhile the rest of the Jews
who were in the king’s provinces gathered together to protect themselves and to get relief from their
enemies. They killed 75,000 of their enemies, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. This
happened on the thirteenth day of Adar and on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of
feasting and gladness. But the Jews that were in Shushan had assembled on the thirteenth and on the
fourteenth and on the fifteenth they rested, making it a day of feasting and gladness. That is why the
rural Jews—those living in unwalled villages—make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of
gladness and feasting, a day of sending presents of food to one another. Mordecai recorded these
events and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
urging them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar every year as the days when the
Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their
mourning into celebration. These were to be days of feasting, celebration and sending presents of food
to one another and giving gifts to the poor. So the Jews agreed to continue the commemoration they
had begun, and do what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite,
the enemy of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur—that is,
the lot—to ruin and destroy them. But when it came to the king’s attention, he issued a written edict
that the wicked scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back on his own head, and
that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. (For this reason, these days were called Purim,
from the word pur.) Therefore because of everything in this letter and because of what they had seen
and what had happened to them, the Jews established and took upon themselves, upon their
descendants, and upon all who joined with them, that they would commemorate these two days in the
way prescribed and at the appointed time every year. These days should be remembered and observed
in every generation by every family and in every province and every city. These days of Purim should not
fail from among the Jews, nor their remembrance perish from their descendants. Then Queen Esther the
daughter of Abihail, and also Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter of
Purim. He sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of
shalom and truth, to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, just as Mordecai the Jew
and Queen Esther had decreed for them and just as they had established for themselves and their
descendants, matters regarding their times of fasting and lamentations. Esther’s command confirmed
these regulations about Purim and it was written into the records.” Esther 9:14-32 TLV