Esther found out about this plan, but during her time as Queen she had become very self-absorbed and did not show any passion to members of the same faith as herself. But Mardecia, Esther’s uncle was bothered. He persuaded Esther to care about the welfare of he Jews. He did a good job and eventually she told her husband, King Xerces I. Xerces now began to gain confidence and ordered Haman to be executed but he could not stop the enemies invading. So instead he withdrew the law, which restricted Jews from defending themselves. Because of the vast amount of Jews the battle was won in a day. On the second day a festival was held and one year later Esther and her loyal uncle wrote to all the Jewish communities to inform them that an annual festival should be held, Purim.
As you can see the entirety of this story has nothing to do with God whatsoever and does not include Him at all.
How and when Purim is celebrated
- The story is read at the Synagogue
- Whenever the name Haman is mentioned the Congregation boos and hisses.
- The Jewish children act out the story, like a sort of Nativity play.
- The children go round their area knocking on doors and sing a little song:
Today is Purim,
Tomorrow no more,
Give me a penny,
I’ll be gone from your door.
- The money that the children collect is generously given to charity.
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Purim is celebrated on the 15th of Adaar or February.
How Hanukah began
Alexander the Great had conquered the majority of the known world therefore creating an enormous Persian Empire. He died in 323BCE and after his death his generals divided up the huge Empire among themselves.
One of the generals was called Seleucus and he took a large part of the Empire. His area ranged from the Mediterranean Sea to India and became known as Seleucid for obvious reasons. But there were disadvantages of such a vast area, such as the various different races and religions.
Because the area was so big it included numerous different types of people and there were many conflicts between rival groups, just as there are today. Seleucus’ successors found it extremely difficult to rule so they decided to solve the problem by encouraging the population to Hellenize. This simply means to adapt to the Greek way of life. This decision was taken well by many people. They dressed like Greeks, they spoke Greek, and they even worshipped Greek gods. This is why the New Testament was written in Greek so that everyone could understand it. The main problem lay in the religion of Judaism. The majority of Jews adapted and was happy with the Greek way of life. But some Jews strongly believed in their traditional ways and hence Judaism was divided.
In 175BC Antiochus came to the throne. He did not want his New Kingdom to have any problems so he decided to force the rebellious Jews into Hellanization. His beliefs were so strong that he passed a law forbidding Jewish customs and festivals such as circumcision and celebrating the Sabbath. Jews were ordered to sacrifice to an Idol placed in the Temple (Solomon’s). They had no choice. Their faith was being torn away, by the threat of torture and death.
As in most tales there are heroes and in this retelling they are the strong Jews who kept their faith no matter what. Mettathias was one of these heroes. He killed a Greek officer and then fled to the hills with his two sons.
Because of his bravery Mettathias became a national legend and men began to join him in the hills. They began to put a small army together, with Mettathias’ son as commander and waged guerrilla warfare against Antiochus’ troops. This show of courage became known as the Maccabean revolt. The commander Judah became known as Maccabi, which means hammer. The warfare raged on for three years longer but eventually they won and the Greeks were driven out of the land.
The idol was removed and the Temple restored. Judah and his men lit the oil lamps with only enough oil to last one-day. They needed to make more oil but this would take 8 days. However, the lamp burnt for the whole 8 days! It was a miracle. The rabbis decided to hold an annual festival when lamps should be lit and Praise songs sung to God.
How Jews celebrate Hanukah
Hanukah is known as the festival of light. It lasts eight days and is the Jewish midwinter festival. The mood in this season is normally sad and gloomy so Hanukah cheers the Jews up. It maybe because the candles seem to have more significance in the early dark evenings of winter because they seem to symbolise happiness with their brightness. They have a nine-branched menorah candlestick. Eight of the candles obviously stand for the each day, therefore one is lit every day and the other one is a slave candle. Jewish women do not do anything while the candles are burning. This represents the amazing courage possessed by the women when Antiochus was persecuting them. Traditional foods are eaten during the festival such as doughnuts and latkes (a kind of shredded potato cake fried in oil).
Children who do not play much part in this festival play a game called Dreidle.
Shavuot (Festival of Weeks)
Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah upon Mount Sinai. Moses received the law 7 weeks after their escape from Egypt. Jews regard this as the most important event in the history of the human race because the Torah is what they base their life on. Without it their religion would probably not exist. Most countries of the world base their laws upon those of the Torah.
Celebrating Shavuot
Shavuot is different to every other Jewish festival because it doesn’t have a mitzvah that says it must be celebrated. In the synagogue people thank God for the giving of the Torah when they pray and there will be readings of the section of the Torah which focuses on the giving of the Torah. The festival takes place on the 6th and 7th of Shivan or May.
Some Jewish Customs
- The Synagogue is decorated with flowers because it is meant to represent Mount Sinai, which is supposed to have been covered with flowers when Moses walked up it.
- Some communities will recite the Tikun during the service. It is a collection of extracts from the Tenach, Mishna and other holy writings. Other communities stay in the Synagogue all night long and study the Torah.
- Dairy foods especially cheesecake are eaten during the festival because they were unsure about the laws of meat.
Sukkot - Harvest Festival
When the Jews were travelling in the desert they needed a shelter to avoid wind and possibly rain and maybe sand being blown around. So they built a shelter out of the basic materials that they had available to them. These shelters were called Sukkah.
Nowadays when the festival of Sukkot arises Modern Jews build a Sukkah in their gardens or at their Synagogue. Sukkahs are temporary structures made from wood and palms. They are decorated with plants and fruit. The Jewish family prays in it and eats meals in it over the eight days. This is also known as the Feast of the Tabernacles.
This hut must be so temporary so that you can see the stars and moon through the roof. This reminds them of people poorer than themselves. Because of this all the Harvest food is donated to charities.
Lulav and Etrog
Four species should be waved is the mitzvah regarding this custom. The four species are:
These three tied together are known as the Lulav.
The Etrog is:
The Lulav and Etrog are the symbols of Harvest and therefore are carried at the Harvest festival, Sukkot. They are waved in every direction to show that God’s love is everywhere. People believe that the Etrog represents the heart because of its shape, the palm represents the spine-strong and strait and the willow represents the mouth because it makes a nice noise. The Myrtle is meant to represent the eye (?). Rain is very important to because the Lulav and Etrog need it to survive just like the Jews.
