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Many people living in Israel may not be aware that the Jewish festival of Purim and the (Western) Christian Holy Day of Easter fall on the same weekend this year. Easter, which actually came originally after the beginning of the Passover Holiday, commemorates the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, while Purim, the Jewish festival that is said to celebrate the Jewish People’s victory over the wicked Haman in Persia more than 2400 years ago, usually occurs before Easter and always occurs one month prior to Passover, of Pesach as many Jews refer to it.

This year, due to there being two months of Adar in the Hebrew calendar, Adar Aleph and Adar Bet, this results in all of the Jewish holidays falling much later this year, with Pesach coming on April 20th. While this phenomenon, sometimes referred to as the “Jewish Leap Year” may result in some confusion in secular circles, religious Jews could care less as they go by their own calendar which is based on the lunar cycle, with the extra month of Adar coming every four years to ‘balance out’ the lunar calendar sequence.

Purim, is a joyous holiday, especially when celebrated in Israel; and it gives people an excuse to let off some steam and dress up in funny costumes. Many people go to Purim parties where seasonal foods, included three cornered cookies called “homentashens” or “Ozney Haman” (depending on a persons’ Hebrew or Yiddish orientation) and also partaking in a bit of strong drink (by adults, of course). Jewish kids look forward to Purim and many even plan their costumes months in advance.

While Purim is a festival of emancipation and liberation to Jews, Easter is something else altogether to Christians, and usually heralds the coming of Spring. Both Purim and Easter also fall on the beginning of Spring, or the Spring Equinox, which ushers in the period of longer days than nights which climax with the beginning of Sumner on June 21. Easter is supposed to be a much more solemn than Christianity’s holiest day, Christmas, and this is reflected in the week prior to Easter which includes Good Friday, the day when Jesus was crucified.

Getting back to Purim, though not really a religious holiday for Jews, it’s a joyous time, and in Israel anyway, kids do have a two day school holiday (unless it falls on Shabbat, like it unfortunately does (for the kids anyway) this year. For those who are not aware of the history behind this festival, Purim as based on a non-biblical work known as the Book of Esther that relates how a Jewish woman named Esther who was married to King Xerxes of Persia, known to Jews as Achashverosh, helped save her people from being purged and killed by an evil administrator named Haman who held a high position in the Persian court. Esther convinced her husband to issue an edict to allow the Jews to defend themselves against Haman, who was eventually executed by the King. The resulting salvation of the Persian Jewish Community later resulted in the festival of Purim, which is still happily celebrated today.

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