What is Purim? What to know about the Jewish holiday that begins Saturday evening

Purim, a Jewish holiday celebrating joy and salvation, begins Saturday evening and ends Sunday evening. Among the celebrations: many Jewish children will dress up and feast on triangular sweets on Saturday evening.

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion President Andrew Rehfeld said Purim (pronounced like "poor-ihm") surrounds a story about how Persian King Achashverosh wanted to kill all Jewish people, but the plan was thwarted when his wife Esther convinced him otherwise and executed his advisor Haman during a feast.

Hebrew studies professor at the University of Florida Yaniv Feller said most Jews in the U.S. celebrate by reading the megillah, or the book of Esther, on Saturday evening.

Feller said a tradition is growing for children to wear costumes typically of figures in the story. He added they often go to a Saturday service and use noisemakers whenever Haman's name is said.

Some people celebrate with excessive drinking, Feller said. He and Rehfeld equated the atmosphere to the Mardi Gras celebration ahead of Lent.

Rehfeld added charity is big during the holiday, for both loved ones and those in need.

"It's often care packages of food for friends or people in need," he said. "Usually in the form of charity and support of one another."

What is the religious significance of Purim?

Feller said there are different views of the holiday. He said it is always up to interpretation each year, but each center on Jews being saved from mass murder.

"The celebration is the way Jews protected themselves through Esther, who was a queen who married the king and figured out how to stop the slaughtering," Rehfeld said.

He added Mordechai, a Jewish leader and cousin of Esther, organized Jews at the time to fast, pray to God and repent their sins ahead of the expected slaughtering.

Tzedek Chicago Rabbi Brant Rosen offered a different explanation for the holiday's origins. He said the holiday is based on a historically inaccurate fable meant to explain Jewish life and the disenfranchisement some faced under Persian rule.

When is Purim?

Rehfeld said Purim begins Saturday evening and lasts until Sunday evening. He added in Judaism, holidays are celebrated from evening to evening. In the Hebrew calendar, the holiday falls on the 14th of Adar.

Treats, dressing up are often part of the celebration for children

"When I was growing up, we would have a Purim carnival at my synagogue and we'd eat the hamantasch cookies," Rosen said.

Jewish bakeries and communities across the U.S., such as in Palm Beach, Florida, host hamantaschen events where children bake the triangular treat commonly filled with poppy seeds or fruit.

Rabbis previously told USA TODAY Purim can feel like a Jewish Halloween, but that categorization might offend some.

Purim different with Israel-Hamas War

Rehfeld drew parallels between the holiday ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The war started on Oct. 7 after Hamas attacked Israel. Israel has since launched intense bombing campaigns in Gaza and the West Bank. Many Jewish people, he said, are looking at the war in hopes the fighting ends, hostages are released and, "Hamas goes somewhere else."

Rosen fears for Palestinians' safety in the West Bank and Jerusalem. He recalled the 1994 Hebron massacre during Purim where Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Muslims worshipping in a mosque for Ramadan, according to Israel State Archives.

Contributing: David Oliver, USA TODAY.

Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @KrystalRNurse.