How To Celebrate Purim In Israel

The ultimate holiday in Israel, Purim – which celebrates the biblical story describing the triumph of Jews over the villain Haman – is all about partying, parades, costumes and joy. This is what to expect in Israel and how to get involved.

Dress up

First and foremost, Purim is the national dress-up holiday in Israel – this extends to offices, schools and, well, the entire city. In a nutshell, it’s a holiday that’s loved and embraced by the whole country, including those without any kind of religious inclination, as its main agenda is to encourage people to dress up, wine, dine and rejoice!

Fancy dress is quite the thing during Purim

Partake in Tel Aviv’s street party

The largest plaza in Tel Aviv, Kikar Hamedina holds a huge street party for Purim

Exchange gifts and donate to charity

Another wonderful Purim tradition is sending food and donating to those in need; it’s a tradition that is prescribed in the Book of Esther as “the sending of portions one man to another, and gifts to the poor”. During Purim, this is called Mishloach Manot (sending of portions). It’s a tradition children begin from a very young age, wrapping up sweet treats to give to friends during the holiday.

It is a Purim tradition to give to friends and those less fortunate

Eat hamantash (Haman’s ears)

A triangular stuffed pocket cookie called hamantash, (Haman’s ears), is a traditional treat to eat during the festival. Its triangular shape remains a mystery, but the name comes from an old practice of cutting off criminals’ ears before they were executed by hanging. These delicious biscuits can be found everywhere around Israel before Purim and are filled with either poppy seeds, jam, chocolate, dates or plenty of other interesting fillings.

Homemade ‘hamantash’ cookies are a Purim tradition

Rejoice!

Last but by no means least – the primary tradition of Purim is to celebrate. Costumes, gifts and alcohol aside, the main purpose of Purim is to reflect on the fact that the Jewish people were saved from Haman, who planned on killing all the Jews, as described in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible.

Purim is a celebratory holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people with fun festivities

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