Purim

2006 Purim Photos!

The Celebration mentioned

in the Book of Esther

While many churches have Halloween and dress for
"Fall Fest" an alternative to the most unbiblical of holidays.
We have our dress-up day at Purim, the Feast of Esther. Adults and Children come to the service dressed as a Biblical person from the book of Esther. The children love it, the adults do too. Of course the costume is optional, but it adds to the festivities. Bring your friends, your costume (optional), a covered dish for the luncheon, and your camera,

In the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on its thirteenth day ...
on the day that the enemies of the Jews were expected to prevail over them,

it was turned about: the Jews prevailed over their adversaries. - Esther 9:1

And they gained relief on the fourteenth, making it a day of feasting and gladness. - Esther 9:17

"Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns,
made the 14th day of the month of Adar a day of gladness and feasting,
a holiday, and of sending portions to one another (mishloach manot)." - Esther 9:19

[Mordecai instructed them] to observe them as days of feasting and gladness, and sending delicacies to one another, and gifts to the poor. - Esther 9:22

Purim is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar.

It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination.

More information on the internet: www.yeshuatyisrael.com
email: Halleluyah@aol.com
Phone (615) 297-3672

PURIM - Commemorates the deliverance of Persian Jews from their intended destruction by Haman, the Prime minister of King Ahasuerus also called Xerxes (470 BC). The holiday is marked by the reading of the Megillah (The Biblical Book of Esther) which recounts the details of how Queen Esther and Mordecai managed to thwart Haman's plot.

Because of its uniquely joyful nature, Purim is the occasion for parties and other festivities. It is customary to send food gifts ('mishloach manot') to friends and to distribute charity. A special festive meal ('purim seudah') is held on Purim afternoon.

A special pastry called Hamantaschen, which is said to resemble Haman's hat, is eaten.

Join us as we read from the Megillah (The Book of Esther). Adults and children come dressed in Biblical Costume as Esther, Mordecai, King Ahasuarus, or Haman (Boooooo!) and let’s Nosh some Hamantashen. If you do not have a costume come anyway, we will provide a crown for you to wear! When we mention the name of Haman make as much noise as possible!!!!!

On March 10th, after the service we will have a Carnival. Check out the fun! Click on a picture!

Purim 2006 Photos

Purim Photos 2008

Purim: Hatred of Jews didn't end with Haman

Mar. 11, 2006. 01:00 AM

JAMES RUDIN

The author of Ecclesiastes had it right: "There is nothing new under the sun." This is especially true when murderous anti-Jewish political and religious leaders continue to slither out, century after century, from under history's rocks. The continuing appearance of evildoers confirms the belief that while our technology may have improved since biblical times, the pathology of human hatred and bigotry remains unchanged.

I will be keenly aware of the realistic words of Ecclesiastes on Monday evening March 13 when the Jewish people celebrate the holiday of Purim by publicly reading the book of Esther in synagogues throughout the world. In 10 brief, brilliantly written chapters, Esther recounts how a prime minister was nearly successful in his genocidal plan to murder every Jew in the ancient Persian Empire that numbered 127 provinces. It was only the personal intervention of Esther, the Jewish queen, and Mordecai, her politically astute uncle, that prevented their own deaths and the mass murder of their fellow Jews.

Each time the name of the villainous prime minister, Haman, is read, the congregation hisses, boos and shakes loud noisemakers to express their contempt for his monstrous plans to physically annihilate an entire people. In an ironic twist, the book of Esther concludes with Haman hanged for his crime on the same gallows he had built for Mordecai.

Purim, the Hebrew name for the dice thrown to determine the date for the slaughter of innocents, is, in fact, a raucous joyous holiday. But Purim's festive costumes and special foods, its gaiety and carnival-like spirit, cannot conceal the terrifying grimness of the story.

Many scholars believe the book was composed in the 3rd or 4th century B.C. and perhaps referred to the reign of the Persian Emperor Xexres I (486-465 B.C.). Other scholars dismiss Esther as a work of fiction that mysteriously found its way into the Bible. What is not in dispute is that Jews have annually celebrated their deliverance from death for well more than 2,100 years.

For Jews, there is no mystery why the book of Esther was included in Scriptures; its sinister story is not fanciful fiction, but horrible history. Indeed, as the only biblical book without a specific mention of God, it represents the tragic prototype of all future attacks upon Jews and Judaism. Those attacks may have started long ago with Haman, the wicked Persian leader in the Purim story, but sadly, they have continued throughout the centuries, and include the cruel Roman Empire, the marauding Crusaders, the notorious Spanish Inquisition, the Czarist pogroms and the Nazi Holocaust.

Today, Haman, the would-be ancient killer of Jews, has his modern counterpart in another Persian leader who also wants to kill Jews: Mahmoud Ahmadnejad, the president of Iran, the modern name for Persia. Even though the two evil men are separated by thousands of years in time, they both share high political offices in the same country, and they have both engaged in murderous rhetoric aimed at the same group of people.

Haman: "The Jews do not obey the king's laws, and it does not pay for the king to tolerate their existence as a people" (Esther 3:8).

Ahmadnejad: "The Islamic community will not allow its historic enemy to live in its heartland. The establishment of the Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world" (Oct. 26, 2005).

Haman: "If it please the king, let a law be written that the Jews be destroyed" (Esther 3:9).

Ahmadnejad: "As the Imam (Ayat Allah Khomeini) said, Israel must be wiped off the map" (Oct. 26, 2005).

Haman: "He was disdainful of killing Mordecai, but once Haman learned Mordecai was a Jew, he resolved to kill all Jews in the empire" (Esther 3:6).

Ahmadnejad: "The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of a war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land" (Oct. 26, 2005).

Sixty years ago in Nuremberg, Germany, Julius Streicher, the notorious Nazi anti-Semite actually compared himself to Haman. Like his lethal ancient mentor, Streicher was also hanged. As he went to his death the Nazi war criminal yelled:

"This is my celebration of Purim 1946,

I am now going to God. ... Heil Hitler!"