(17) Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt;(18) how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were enfeebled in thy rear, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
(1) After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.
(15) Then Esther bade them return answer unto Mordecai:(16) ’Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.’
These special communal Purims are called *Purim Katan ("minor Purim"), or Mo'ed Katan ("minor holiday") or Purim… (followed by the name of the community or the special event). In many cases special Purims were preceded by a fast comparable to the Fast of *Esther. In addition, on the Purim Katan itself the story of the personal or communal salvation was often read from a scroll (*megillah) in the course of a synagogue service in which special prayers of thanksgiving, in the style ofpiyyutim, were offered. Sometimes the *Al ha-Nissim prayer and the *Hallel were inserted into the ritual. The traditional Purim observances of enjoying a festive meal and giving charity to the poor were also applied to special Purims. (See Table: List of Special Purims.) -Encyclopedia Judaica
מברך על הרעה מעין על הטובה ועל הטובה מעין על הרעה
One says the benediction for a calamity apart from any attendant good, and for good fortune apart from any attendant evil ;
(ח) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר הָמָן֙ לַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵר֔וֹשׁ יֶשְׁנ֣וֹ עַם־אֶחָ֗ד מְפֻזָּ֤ר וּמְפֹרָד֙ בֵּ֣ין הָֽעַמִּ֔ים בְּכֹ֖ל מְדִינ֣וֹת מַלְכוּתֶ֑ךָ וְדָתֵיהֶ֞ם שֹׁנ֣וֹת מִכָּל־עָ֗ם וְאֶת־דָּתֵ֤י הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֵינָ֣ם עֹשִׂ֔ים וְלַמֶּ֥לֶךְ אֵין־שֹׁוֶ֖ה לְהַנִּיחָֽם׃(ט) אִם־עַל־הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ ט֔וֹב יִכָּתֵ֖ב לְאַבְּדָ֑ם וַעֲשֶׂ֨רֶת אֲלָפִ֜ים כִּכַּר־כֶּ֗סֶף אֶשְׁקוֹל֙ עַל־יְדֵי֙ עֹשֵׂ֣י הַמְּלָאכָ֔ה לְהָבִ֖יא אֶל־גִּנְזֵ֥י הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃(י) וַיָּ֧סַר הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ אֶת־טַבַּעְתּ֖וֹ מֵעַ֣ל יָד֑וֹ וַֽיִּתְּנָ֗הּ לְהָמָ֧ן בֶּֽן־הַמְּדָ֛תָא הָאֲגָגִ֖י צֹרֵ֥ר הַיְּהוּדִֽים׃(יא) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ לְהָמָ֔ן הַכֶּ֖סֶף נָת֣וּן לָ֑ךְ וְהָעָ֕ם לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת בּ֖וֹ כַּטּ֥וֹב בְּעֵינֶֽיךָ׃
(8) And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus: ‘There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king’s laws; therefore it profiteth not the king to suffer them.(9) If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those that have the charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.’(10) And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’enemy.(11) And the king said unto Haman: ‘The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.’
Selected observances from Encyclopedia Judaica
Purim of… | Observed | Established | Reason for Observance |
Algiers (called Purim Edom) | 4th Ḥeshvan | 1540 | Saved from destruction in Spanish-Algerian wars of 1516–1517 and 1542. |
Algiers (called Purim Tammuz) | 11th Tammuz | 1774 | Saved from danger. |
Breche (Champagne, France) | 14th Adar | 1191 | Chief Jew-baiter executed. |
Cavaillon (Provence) | 25th Iyyar | 1631 | Plague ended. |
Ditto | 29th Sivan | 1677 | Saved from blood libel accusation. |
Cento (Italy) | 12th Av | 1820 | Escaped from fire. |
Chieri (Italy) | 1st Av | 1797 | Saved from danger of war. |
Ditto | 18th Iyyar | 1799 | Escaped war riots. |
Fez | 22nd Kislev | 1840 | Saved from destruction. |
Gumeldjina (Thrace) called: Purim de los ladrones ("Purim of the thiefs") | 22nd Elul | 1786 | Saved from collective punishment for instigating robbers to sack town. |
Hebron | 1st Av | ? | Saved from collective punishment and execution by Ibrahim Pasha. |
Ditto, called Purim Takka ("Window Purim") | 14th Tevet | 1741 | Saved from annihilation by miraculous ransom money on the windowsill of synagogue. |
Leghorn | 12th Shevat | 1742 | Saved from destruction in earthquake. |
Mstislavl (Russia) | 4th Shevat | 1744 | Saved from slaughter by Cossacks. |
Ditto | 3rd Kislev | 1844 | Saved from collective punishment for alleged rebellion against authorities. |
Prague | 14th Ḥeshvan | 1620 | Saved from sacking and riots by protection of Emperor Ferdinand. |
Sarajevo | 4th Ḥeshvan | 1819 | 10 leaders of Jewish community freed from prison and saved from execution. |
Senigallia (Italy)/see also: Urbino and Pesaro | 15th Sivan | 1799 | Saved from annihilation during war by escaping to Ancona. |
Shiraz, called Purim Mo'ed Katan | 2nd Heshvan | 1200 | Permitted to practice Judaism after having being forced to convert to Islam. |
Tunisia, called: Purim Sheleg ("Purim of Snow") | 24th Tevet | 1891 | Jewish quarter saved from natural disaster |
Vilna | 15th Av | 1794 | Saved from destruction during war. |
Family Purims | |||
Altschul family of Prague | 22nd Tevet | 1623 | Head of family, Hanokh Moses, saved from death. |
Brandeis family of Jungbunzlau (Bohemia), called Povidl Purim "Plum Jam Purim" | 10th Adar | 1731 | David Brandeis and family saved from accusation of having killed gentiles by poisoning plum jam. |
Danzig family of Vilna, called Pulverpurim ("Powder Purim") | 15th Kislev | 1804 | Family of Abraham Danzig author of "Ḥayyei Adam" saved from explosion of magnesium. |
Elyashar family of Jerusalem | 2nd Nisan | ? | Saved from death. |
Heller family of Prague | 1st Adar | 1629 | Head of family, Yom Tov Lipman, rabbi of Prague saved from death sentence. |
Maimon family of Lithuania | ? | 1750 | Grandfather of Solomon Mimon saved from death sentence for blood libel. |
Meyuḥas family of Jerusalem | 16th Adar | 1724 | Head of family, Raphael Meyuhas, escaped death by highwaymen. |
Samuel Ha-Nagid of Spain | 1st Elul | 1039 | Saved from death plot of conspirators. |
Segal family of Cracow | 1st Iyyar | 1657 | Family saved from drowning in river while escaping from pogrom. |
