Happy Purim! Or rather, Happy Shushan Purim!

This coming Sunday, March 16, 2014, is the Jewish holiday of Purim, which can be celebrated all over the world - except Jerusalem. The following day, Monday, March 17, 2014, is Shushan Purim, which can be celebrated only in Jerusalem (and maybe one or two other places).

What's the difference between the two days? Read more to find out ...

Whether you're celebrating Purim or Shushan Purim, we wish you a very joyous day!

Traditionally, there are four ways to mark this special holiday:

• Listen to the Book of Esther read aloud in its entirety once in the evening and once in the morning.
  
  
• Give gifts and charity to a minimum of two needy individuals. (Click here to make a Purim donation to our charity fund for disabled children in Jerusalem - feel free to include a prayer that we'll deliver for you at no charge to the Western Wall.)
  
  
• Send gifts of food to at least one friend. There must be at least two kinds of ready-to-eat foods, and the gift has to be given during the day. One traditional food is Hamantash, a three-cornered, filled pastry. Try our hamantaschen recipe here.
  
  To send a Purim basket to a friend, check out our Purim Store.
  
  
• Enjoy a festive meal.

Shalom, My name is Maya Levin and I am writing to you directly from Israel. We read in the Talmud "when Adar begins, joy increases". In the Hebrew month of Adar we celebrate Purim, which is the most joyous holiday of the Jewish calendar. The word "Purim" comes from "Pur" which means "drawing" and mentions the fact that Haman drew the month he was going to destroy the Jewish people, as we see in Esther 3. Purim is the day the Jews celebrate the fact that Haman could not finish his plans, and the Jewish people were saved. It is the most "materialist" feast in the Jewish calendar. On the other side, we have the "Day of Atonement", known as "Yom Kippur" or "Yom HaKipurim". Literally, "the day that is like Purim". How can that be? What is the relationship between the holiest day of the year, and the more materialistic day? The Day of Atonement is like Purim because religious experience is not made only from spirituality and fasts. It is also celebrated, perhaps at a higher level, with our joy as we celebrate with food and drink. When we read the Bible in the Hebrew original, we find that two words in different texts have the same root and we can understand the previously unimaginable meaning and the relationship between them that was lost in translation. In our seminars and Hebrew courses, you can learn Hebrew quickly and be part of a global community. Are you ready to start learning Hebrew? Then click here. see you in class, Maya Levin eTeacherBiblical About the teacher Maya holds a Bachelors degree in Pilosophy. She had a scholarship that allowed her to study Philosophy of Sclence and translate some of the works of the mathematiclan Emmy Noether.She was born in Brazil and lived there until she decided to expend her summer vacations in Jerusalem studying Judaism.

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