Eleazar ha-Levi

Challenges Entered: Can't Quite Prove It

Project:

The Haman Pinyata

How do you prove that something that, apparently, didn’t exist, actually did exist? In this case, that Jews in Period celebrated the festival of Purim with a Haman pinyata.

First, a little background. Purim celebrates the events of the biblical Book of Esther, the failed attempt by Haman, vizier the ancient Persian Empire, to kill all the Jews in the Empire. The plot was defeated by Mordechai, a leader of the Jews, and his niece, Esther, the beautiful new wife of the King. The King ordered that Haman be hanged and gave Mordechai Haman’s place in court.

Purim, held on Adar 15 on the Jewish calendar (February or March), is the Jewish carnival holiday. Since the Middle Ages Jews have worn masks and costumes, and they have held feasts and performed comedic plays. Jewish Law requires that Jews should drink until they can’t tell whether someone is saying, “Blessed be Mordechai” or “Cursed be Haman” (Tractate Megillah 7b). And they obliterate Haman.

Full documentation and citations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zPyhuKOgP-ymGj3eR_-QXdaEUBRWG1KT/edit

How to make a Haman Pinyata: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KX-77bXEkObI3_O8eAO0K25PlwN1pzt4/view?usp=sharing