Purim-katan (Small Purim) among the Jews

There is no other people on the planet so closely associated with religion as the Jews The faith, traditions and history of this people make them unique and different from others Purim is a great holiday, named from the word "pur", which means "lot" It was established in memory of the incredible salvation of the Jews over 2400 years ago during the Persian reign, during the reign of Ahasuerus The history of the creation of the holiday is described in great detail in one of the Old Testament writings Events began when the ruler Achashverosh appointed Haman and Mordechai as his advisors The first was one of the wealthiest people in the world, and his new position obliged everyone to idolize him like an idol, since in those days in Persia all people, besides Jews, were pagans Mordechai, in turn, received the king's favor for informing on two guards who wanted to poison the ruler From the very beginning, Haman hated Mordechai because he did not want to idolize him and taught the rest of the people not to do so In addition, some time ago the army of Mordechai and Haman were sent to battle an Indian city that did not want to obey the ruler Food was prepared for several years, but by the end of the first year Haman had used up all his supplies Mordecai agreed to help him if he would become his slave And since there was no paper at hand, he wrote his positive answer right on his savior’s leg Therefore, an idea appeared in Haman’s thoughts on how to exterminate forever the Jews living in Persia To realize his idea, he cast lots to determine the appropriate month And it seemed to him that Adar was most suitable And since Achashverosh was not particularly intelligent, he easily signed a decree for the extermination of the Jewish people, without knowing anything about them It is worth saying that the ruler’s wife Esther was a Jew, so she stood up to protect her people Esther knew how much her husband enjoyed feasts Then she prepared a luxurious celebration for him, for which he promised to fulfill any of her wishes At the same moment, she fell at her husband’s feet and told him that Haman wanted to destroy the Jews The king was very angry, but the decisive moment was another misdeed of the adviser: he made his way to Esther’s pastel and began to ask her to intercede for him After this, Achashverosh ordered Haman to be executed and he was hanged on the branch that he had previously prepared for Mordechai In addition, the king allowed the Jews to stand up for their own lives, and, having defeated their opponent, to take all the enemy’s property For this reason, the 12th and 13th Adar are called “bloody” Purim, because on these days the Jewish people fought off their enemies There is a legend that in one of the battles the sons of Haman were killed, and with them over 50,000 people And the next two days, which became deliverance, are called today Purim The celebration begins on the evening of the 13th of Adar, with Esther serving as protector, since she and Mordechai refused water and food On this day, people pray and analyze their lives, think about how much horror the people experienced in the first days of the proclamation of the decree In addition, they read the writings of Esther, which describes the story of Purim And the celebration ends in the same way as it began - with the reading of the scrolls of Esther This process takes place within the walls of synagogues At one time, only handwritten scrolls were allowed to be used However, today you can also use printed literature The main thing is that everything happens with deep respect Before reading the morning and evening prayers, blessings are said After pronouncing the name Aman, all participants in the action stomp their feet, whistle, clap and crack graggers - special rattles With the help of loud sounds, anger, hatred and contempt for the cruel adviser are conveyed