Children dress as Top Gun pilots, parrots and Cannon cameras as they celebrate ancient Jewish festival of Purim
- The age-old Jewish tradition of Purim dates back some 2,500 years
Children dressed as Top Gun pilots, parrots and Cannon cameras as they celebrated the ancient Jewish festival of Purim today.
The streets of London and Manchester were awash in color as hundreds of Jewish children were seen dressed up to celebrate the age-old tradition.
The ancient festival dates back some 2,500 years and commemorates the survival of the Jewish people who were put to death in ancient Persia.
It celebrates the courage of Esther, Queen of Persia, who stopped a genocide of her people after the King of Persia’s advisor, Haman, devised a plan to kill all the Jewish people.
The event sees people in Israel dressed in costumes for work and dressing up to go to synagogue.
A Jewish family celebrates the holiday of Purim, from the Book of Esther, in London today
Jewish children dressed in costumes pose for a photo as they celebrate the annual holiday of Purim in Manchester today
Jewish boys dance and sing on a bus today as they celebrate the annual holiday of Purim in Manchester
Jewish children, dressed in traditional costumes, celebrate the annual holiday of Purim in Manchester today
A boy dressed in a costume depicting a blue dragon walks along Al-Shuhada Street, largely closed to Palestinians, in the divided city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank during festivities today.
A boy dressed in a Purim costume and holding a toy gun walks along Al-Shuhada Street with other partygoers today
The Jewish holiday Purim – which means “lots” in Old Persian – is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar – which falls between late winter and early spring. The event does not fall on the same day every year.
Jewish communities celebrate by listening to the Book of Esther – who told Jews to celebrate this special day.
Now you see people all over the world marching in parades dressed in costumes in honor of Esther, who posed as a non-Jew to expose the plot.
The story forms the core of the Jewish festival of Purim, where it is read twice; once in the evening and again the next morning.