77 Wab C.

This is Sid and Friends in the morning.

I mean, if we're going to put somebody on Mount Rushmore,

let's get Sid Rosenberg on Mount Rushmore.

Purim, Purim, the Jewish Halloween,

in that there's costumes and parties

and in absolutely no other respect.

Pughrim commemorates the victory of the Jews in Persia over their arch enemy Haman,

or in English Haman, as told in the book of Estir.

For synagogue-going Jews, celebrating Purim starts on the evening of the 14th of Adal

with reading the Megillah, the scroll that tells the story of Estir.

The reading is lively.

In costumes, people boo and spin groggers every time the villain Hamans...

Name is set.

It's taught he was descended from Amalek, a people the Torah commanded Jews to remember to forget.

So, yelling over his name is a way to continue blotting Amalek out.

Less traditionally, some communities will cheer for Vashti, winnie for horses, etc.

Hearing the entire Megillah, every word, is the biggest commandment of poem. There are shorter

poem spieles, comedic sketches, with actors, puppets, and, of course, YouTube videos.

In communities around the world, there are other traditions, too.

Visiting the tombs of Esther and Mordecai in Iran, dragging Haman effigies around in Yemen,

and striking stones with Hamans' name on them together in France.

...