purim feast
purim feast - Welcome to Beit Chabad’s Purim website
Purim commemorates the miracle where the people of Israel were saved from the evil Haman who wanted to destroy all Jews at the times of the Persian empire.
At Beit Chabad’s Purim website, you will learn the day’s mitzvahs and customs as well as everything you need to know about Purim.
In addition, you can observe the mitzvahs of Matanot La’Evyonim and the Machatzit HaShekel through Beit Chabad using Bit or credit card.
Donations on the website are tax deductible in accordance with Section 46.
The donation is secured and performed through credit card or paypal
תוכן עניינים
When is the Purim feast held?
The Purim feast should take place during the day and not at night, as is stated in the Megillah “they were to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking“.
The Purim feast can be held throughout the entire day – in Chabad it is customary for the feast to begin during the day and to last into the night.
Dishes in the Purim feast
It is a great mitzvah to eat and drink a lot in the Purim feast.
A sizable feast is held, each man according to his ability.
Eating bread
It is customary to wash one’s hands Netillat Yadayim and eat bread at the feast.
Eating meat
Meat is eaten at the feast and some adhere to eating beef specifically rather than just chicken.
Kreplach
It is an old custom to eat a dumpling filled with meat on Purim.
Getting drunk
The following is stated in the Talmud and so became part of Halakha:
One must get drunk in Purim until he can’t tell the cursed Haman apart from the blessed Mordecai”
That is, there is a commandment to drink wine and get drunk in the Purim feast.
The clarification on the level of drunkenness “until he can’t tell the cursed Haman apart from the blessed Mordecai” was given various interpretations.
Here are some quotes regarding the subject:
- Moses Isserles wrote that this duty means drinking more than usual until one falls asleep, thus not being able to tell the difference between the cursed Haman and the blessed Mordecai.
- The cursed Haman and the blessed Mordecai share a value in gematria – 502. The commandment is to get so drunk that one is not able to calculate such gematria values.
- The commandment on not being able to tell which miracle is greater – the one damning the evil Haman or the one that occurred to the pious Mordecai.
An important warning
The Halakha books state that one who knows that drinking wine will lead to him behaving improperly and disrespectfully should refrain from drinking.
Since the commandment is to come to a feast of merriment and enjoyment of a mitzvah, and not one of rowdy and clownish behavior.
Getting drunk at the Purim feast for women
Women are exempt from the commandment to drink lots of wine, since for a woman, getting drunk is improper.
Grace after meals
In the grace after meals, one should add “and for the miracles”
If the feast has ended at night time, one must still say “and for the miracles”.
Additional mitzvahs on Purim
Read about the other mitzvahs of the day:
The half of shekel mitzvah
The month of Adar includes the mitzvah of donating half a shekel, the mitzvah can be observed with an online donation at the website through Bit or credit card
