Jerusalem Revelers Celebrate Purim - East Idaho News
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Jerusalem Revelers Celebrate Purim

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GETTY 3615 Purim?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1425662209148Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images(JERUSALEM) — Israeli police on Friday cleared the site of the suspected terrorist attack that took place in the morning at a light rail station in east Jerusalem — and revelers celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim were out in force by the afternoon.

Secular teenagers donned wigs and threw fraternity-style street parties, setting off fireworks into the air.

Waiters at restaurants sported masks and religious children dressed up as Cinderella or Superman.

To briefly review the Purim tradition, according to the Biblical Book of Esther, Haman, a royal vizier to King Ahasuerus, hatched a plot to kill all of the Jews in the ancient Persian Empire some 2,500 years ago.

The plot was foiled, and Purim is the Jewish celebration on the other side. But today, the day of deliverance, feasting and heavy drinking, has turned into an epic carnival-like party for much of the Jewish world.

On Thursday, much of the country celebrated Purim. In Jerusalem, the party lasts for an extra day.


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