Just when you thought the winter couldn’t get any bleaker, Purim shows up in the calendar for a little pre-spring mayhem. The holiday starts on 13th day of Adar II, which falls on the evening of March 15. (We add a second Adar this year to get the Hebrew lunar-based calendar back in synch with the solar-based Julian one.) To celebrate, we read the Megillah, the story of how the Jewish Esther saved her people from destruction in long-ago Persia. It’s a raucous celebration with food and drink, costumes and noisemakers. There’s lots of loud booing of the villain, Haman, and cheering of the heroic acts of Mordechai and Esther, our story’s heroes.
Think you’re a Purim maven? See how you score on this fun holiday quiz.
A favorite holiday treat are hamentashen, triangle-shaped, filled cookies meant to resemble the peaked millinery of Haman. This year, some very unconventional hamentashen recipes have been making the rounds. Try these multi-colored hamentashen for a little holiday cheer. Or if you like pina coladas, maybe these will do.
Whatever the case, be happy! It’s Adar!
Reader Interactions