PURIM The festival of Purim celebrates the heroics of Queen Esther of Persia. She saved the Jews from massacre in Persia by Haman the King of Persia's advisor. Haman convinced the King that the Jewish community was a cancer in Persia. The King told Haman to deal with them as he saw fit. So, Haman planned to execute the entire Jewish population. Queen Esther went to the King and explained that she too was a Jew and that Haman was trying to kill the Jews only to better his own position and because of his dislike towards Mordechai, a Jew. The King responded by hanging Haman.
Today it is a festival directed towards children, usually in March. The children are given noise makers and the story of Queen Esther saving the Jews is retold. Whenever the villain's name is spoken the children use the noise makers.
PESACH (PASSOVER) About 3000 years ago the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians under the rule of Ramses II. Moses, a former Prince of Egypt, was instructed by God to go to the Pharaoh and demand the freedom of his people. Moses' plea of "Let my people go" fell on deaf ears. Moses warned the Pharaoh of pending punishments, but Ramses ignored the warnings. In response to Ramses refusals, the 10 plagues were unleashed: 1. Water to Blood (Nile) 2. Frogs 3. Lice 4. Gnats 5. Blight (livestock disease) 6. Boils 7. Hail 8. Locusts 9. Darkness 10. Death of the first born
The Hebrew word PESACH translates to Passing Over or Protection. This is derived from the instructions that God gave to Moses to protect the Israelites from the tenth plague.
Today the festival of Pesach is celebrated in early April for 8 days. The home is cleared of all yeast foods (chametz) indicative of the bread eaten by the Israelites as well as a symbol of the haste in which they were forced to leave. The first two nights are celebrated with lavish meals called SEDERS. The traditional meal is comprised of lamb (represents the sacrifice made for their blood), salt water (tears and the Red Sea), bitter herbs (bitterness of slavery), wine (thanksgiving), and parsley (green of spring).
SIMCHAT TORAH The term means "rejoicing in the Torah". This festival marks the completion of the annual cycle of weekly readings from the Torah in the synagogue. Each week a few chapters from the Torah are read starting with Genesis 1 and ending with Deuteronomy 34. On Simchat Torah the last chapter is read and they begin again. This cycle reminds Jews that the Torah is cyclical and never ends.