Festival of Lots
“The joy of Purim, the merrymaking, the food, the drink, the whole carnival atmosphere, are there to allow us to live with the risks of being a Jew – in the past, and tragically in the present also – without being terrified, traumatised or intimidated.” — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
The festival of Purim is known as the Jewish carnival of happiness, commemorating the rescue of the Jewish people during the ancient Persian Empire from Haman, the man who planned to “destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews… in a single day”. The word “purim” means “lots” in ancient Persian and became the name of the festival because Haman drew lots to randomly determine when he would carry out his plot.
