Purim Service 2025 / פּוּרִים 5785 / Celebration of Jewish deliverance as told by Book of Esther 🎭️📜

Purim for Hebrew Year 5785 begins at sundown on Thursday, 13 March 2025, and ends at nightfall on Friday, 14 March 2025.  Purim (Hebrew: פּוּרִים, Pûrîm “lots”, from the word פור pur, also called the Festival of Lots) is a Jewish holiday commemorating the saving of the Jewish people from Haman in the ancient Persian Empire, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther (Megillat Esther).  Come and celebrate with us the victory over evil with music, dances, and food.  Customarily we dress up in biblical costumes, some attribute this tradition to the fact that Esther initially “masked” her Jewish identity.  Purim is also a great opportunity to give charity to the needy.  And last but not least, we read the Book of Esther in a very particular “way”. A number of customs are associated with the reading. Haman, the enemy of the Jews in this story, is associated with all those who have tried to destroy the Jewish people throughout history. Therefore, we make loud noises—verbally or with noisemakers—at every mention of Haman’s name “to drown it out”. Derived from the Polish word meaning “rattle,” a grogger is the noisemaker used to drown out the name of Haman during the reading of the M’gillah. Beginning in the 13th century, Jews throughout Europe sounded the grogger as a part of their Purim celebrations.