Purim

Purim is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman. Haman was the royal vizier to King Ahasuerus of the Persian empire. Haman was planning to kill all the Jews in the empire, as recounted in the Book of Esther (known as the Megillah). King Ahasuerus married Esther, who was secretly Jewish. If not for her courage to speak up and confess to the king, Haman would have been successful!
 Purim is known to be a very festive and joyous holiday. We dress up in costume and read from the megillah, during which, every time Haman's name is mentioned, we "boo" and "hiss" and shake our noise makers! We eat Hamentaschen, triangle shaped cookies, which represent Haman's three-sided hat.