Virtual Humanistic Purim Celebration Led by Rabbi Frank Tabmurello

Shalach Manot

Join us on Zoom at 2:30 PM on Saturday, March 15

Please click here to register

Back in 2020, our congregation was possibly the last one in Westchester to host an in-person Purim. Unfortunately, this year we will again be celebrating Purim online. But we will still hear the whole megillah.

We encourage you to get ready a grogger and wear a costume in the spirit of Purim merriment.

You can download the service to better follow along.

For more information, please call Dmitry at (914)713-8828 or email info@wchj.org

How Do Humanistic Jews View Purim?

(from http://www.shj.org/humanistic-jewish-life/about-the-holidays/purim/)

Like most Jewish holidays, Purim began as a nature holiday, a welcoming of spring and its triumph over winter, similar to Mardis Gras. It came to commemorate the saving of the Jewish people from the Persian king’s vizar, Haman, who was planning to kill all the Jews.

Many scholars believe that the story of Purim originated in Babylonia and represented a battle between their gods, which may be one reason why the Book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention God. In the Book of Esther that is written on a scroll called a megillah, the goodness and intervention of Esther and her uncle Mordecai in the court of King Ahasuerus saved the Jews from being exterminated by the king’s vizier Haman.

For Humanistic Jews, Purim is a celebration of the heroic in Jewish history and a tribute to ethical role models. Like many Jews, Humanistic Jews celebrate the heroes and chastise the villains of the world through modern Purim plays (shpiels). Reading the megillah accompanied by noise makers (gragers), cheers and boos provides a starting point from which to move beyond the framework of the ancient story. Costume parades are often held.

The symbolic food of Purim is hamantaschen (a three–cornered cookie reminiscent of Haman’s hat). The holiday also includes a community service component. The custom of giving gifts to the poor (shalakh manot) translates in some communities to preparing food for a soup kitchen or shelter. Light-hearted activities are paired with the serious notions of recalling the heroism of individuals and the organized resistance to the oppression of the Jewish people; the power of people working together.