How does one explain Purim, the Jewish holiday based on the Book of Esther? My son told me that he told his friends at school that it was the Jewish Halloween, but instead of getting candy, you give it.
I started to respond with the ways in which his explanation was off, and then I realized that he was onto something. Especially for people who do not know the Biblical Book of Esther, Halloween is a helpful comparison, especially the way it is celebrated today.
To be clear, Purim is not a Halloween. While Jews celebrate being delivered from death, they are not celebrating the dead. Likewise, while Jews dress up in costumes, ghouls, ghosts, goblins, and the like are not for Purim. Lastly, while both Purim and Halloween deal with chance, there are no bad or evil tricks in Purim.
What do the holidays have in common, then? Let us start with my son’s suggestion about food. Yes, on Halloween children go door-to-door seeking candy, which they usually get. By contrast, Jews are commanded on Purim to give to the poor and to send food packages to their friends. The emphasis, Jewishly, is clearly on giving. As an adult, though, I have to admit that I feel the obligation to give in both cases. I buy bags of candy in advance of October 31st, plan to be home, and make sure to answer the door for any neighbors or friends to whom I can offer that candy.
This adult perspective is something I try to teach my children since they do not go out trick-or-treating. What it means to be a good neighbor, to create community, is to welcome others and to give freely to them. I also recognize that plenty of Jews are not familiar with these “giving” aspects of Purim, instead, focusing on costumes, parties, and carnivals. That Jewish value of giving, therefore, is potentially equally present for both holidays.
The comparison also works well for two other aspects of Purim: the “lottery” (in Hebrew, pur in Purim) and the upside-down (no, Purim is not “Stranger Things”). We celebrate Esther’s story because she managed to change the fate of the Jews in Persia by taking a chance in speaking to King Ahashverosh and getting his advisor Haman to reveal his plan to kill all the Jews of which she was a part. The punishment Haman envisions for his Jewish enemy Mordechai is visited upon him. Esther rolled the dice and saved her people.
The stakes are much bigger than trick-or-treating, but those visiting haunted houses might argue otherwise. Haman’s plan being flipped onto him is part of the upside-down aspect of Purim, in Hebrew hafoch hu. Again, similarly, Halloween is the one night when we say the dead or their spirits come out, “Stranger Things” is a variation on this theme.
There may be other aspects of each holiday worthy of comparison. I am struck, though, by the positive human message in each. Death, hatred, and evil are all too real. We need ways to celebrate overcoming them. We also need ways to draw together to create the opposite: life, love, and goodness.
This Purim, I will be focusing much more on the giving, both to the poor and to my friends and neighbors. My hope is that in doing so, I will be building a bridge of sorts to a world of possibility where the outcomes are all positive. However, much luck may be involved in life, we can and should stack the deck in our favor. We can by finding what we have in common and sharing it.
About Rabbi Jeremy Winaker
Rabbi Jeremy Winaker is the executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hillel Network, responsible for West Chester University, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and other area colleges. He is the former head of school at the Albert Einstein Academy in Wilmington and was the senior Jewish educator at the Kristol Hillel Center at the University of Delaware for four years. Rabbi Winaker lives in Delaware with his wife and three children.
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