MISSOULA — Dozens of people from Missoula’s Jewish community gathered over the weekend to celebrate the holiday of Purim.
It is a celebration of a miracle that saved the Jewish people over 2,500 years ago and has a tradition of exchanging food, donating to those in need, and dressing up in costume.
Purim is filled with many traditions but the most important practice for those who follow it is to celebrate and have fun.
Rabbi Chezky Vogel from the Chabad Jewish Center in Missoula explained why this holiday is celebrated with so much joy.
“It really is, if you visit any Jewish community it’s the happiest day on the Jewish calendar and I guess the happiness because of the way things turned on its head so quickly," Vogel said. "And that elicits the greatest joy, and also the idea that the small miracles that are happening all around us it's not always the big miracles. Knowing that we’re living within miracles just the laws of nature, that itself is a miracle that brings us the greatest joy and peace of mind.”
The next big Jewish holiday will be Passover, which begins on April 22, 2024.
