The Purim Players

Setting: Shushan, Persia, roughly 2,500 years ago

The story of Purim revolves around the actions of four key characters who we read about in the Book of Esther, a.k.a. Megillat Esther.

Mordechai, an advisor to King Achashverosh, counsels his niece Esther to hide her Judaism and use her beauty to become the next queen. While Esther cleverly conceals her Judaism to win the king’s favor, Mordechai upsets the power-hungry Prime Minister Haman by standing up for his Judaism and refusing to bow down to him. Haman continues his plot to destroy the Jews since they, like Mordechai, won’t obey his orders. Ultimately, Esther reveals her true identity to the king, bravely saving her people. If not for his love for Esther, King Achashverosh might have followed his advisor Haman’s evil plan.

At the end of the Purim tale, Mordechai and Esther send letters throughout the land instructing the Jews to celebrate this day every year. As part of this Purim celebration, we send care packages to friends and strangers in need.