Special Purims

Purims, Special

Various

Just as Jews throughout the world celebrate their escape from the evil plot of the Persian prime minister Haman ( see Purim), many individual Jewish communities commemorate their deliverance from specific calamities by observing their own Purims. The Padua Purim, for example, observed on 11 Sivan, celebrates Jews' deliverance from a major fire in Padua, Italy, in 1795. The Baghdad Purim, observed on 11 Av, celebrates the conquest of Baghdad by the Arabs and the defeat of the Persians. The Snow Purim, observed on 24 Tevet, celebrates the major snowstorm in Tunis that caused extensive damage and injury elsewhere but left the Jewish quarter of the city untouched. And the Hitler Purim, observed in Casablanca, Morocco, on 2 Kislev, commemorates the city's escape from German domination during World War II.

CONTACTS:
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
11 Broadway
New York, NY 10004
212-563-4000; fax: 212-564-9058
www.ou.org

SOURCES:
RelHolCal-2004, p. 57