title: Infant

text: Even if parents cannot yet understand infants' babbling, a timely response by parents to babbling leads to faster language acquisition. This was confirmed by researchers who first studied mothers' behavior towards 8-month-old infants and later tested the infants' vocabulary when they were 15 months old. A first important development of infants is the discovery that they can influence their parents through babbling (development of intentional communication). Parents can encourage this by engaging with their infants in babbling. This in turn promotes further language development, as infants then turn to their parents more often.


title: Infant

text: Previous studies have shown that the infant's speech is encouraged when parents, for example, smile in the infant's direction or touch the infant every time the infant looks at them and babbles. It also helps if parents respond to what they think their baby is saying (for example, giving a ball or commenting when the baby looks at the ball and babbles). Responding to sounds produced when the baby looks at an object (object-directed vocalizations) thus provide an opportunity to learn the name of the object. In this way, babies also learn that sounds are associated with objects. However, language development is only achieved if parents react positively (e.g. smile) in response to the infant's babbling. A high response rate without a connection to the infant's utterances does not lead to language promotion. It is detrimental to language development if a mother instead tries to divert the infant's attention to something else.


title: Infant

text: A 2018 review analysed 146 studies on infant sleep behavior and listed several factors that show an effect on sleep duration and the number of night wakings. For example, stimulating daytime activities, reading aloud before sleeping, early bedtime, a sleep routine, and avoiding television and media exposure before bedtime are associated with longer sleep duration and fewer nighttime awakenings.


title: Infant

text: Furthermore, strong parental involvement at falling asleep is associated with shorter sleep duration, slower falling asleep and more frequent night-time awakenings in the studies analysed. Strong parental involvement is understood to include parental presence, cradling, or breastfeeding at bedtime, as well as carrying the infant to sleep and then putting the infant down. Strong parental involvement has a negative effect on infant sleep because the infant cannot develop the ability to self-soothe. On the other hand, low parental involvement at bedtime gives the infant room to learn self-soothing and self-regulation.


title: Infant

text: In 2020, a Finnish study established (according to the research leader) for the first time a reference value for infant sleep quality based on a large data set (about 5,700 babies). Almost 40% of the participating parents with eight-month-old babies said they were worried about their sleep. In fact, sleep problems were common; however, children fall asleep faster, wake up less often during the night and stay awake less late at night the older they get. At the same time, total sleep time decreases.


title: Infant

text: The study was also able to determine reference values for normal sleep (see table). Children who sleep significantly less than average would usually benefit from supportive measures, for which a number of methods would be available (a discussion with the pediatrician or see, for example, the article on sleep training).


title: Infant

text: Maternal sensitivity plays a particular role in the relationship with the infant and for favorable emotional development. This means being attentive to the infant's behavioral expressions, not misinterpreting the infant's expressions because of one's own moods, reacting immediately to the situation and finding a response that is appropriate to the context and the expressed needs. A secure attachment is promoted through empathetic and adequate as well as prompt responses. In accordance with their basic needs, infants show an inborn behavior of seeking closeness to the mother – or to another primary caregiver – and thus in turn foster an attachment. When separated from the mother, infants protest by crying and by body movements.


title: Infant

text: Wearing has a calming effect on infants. A 2013 study showed that infants placed in a cradle cried and kicked more often and had an increased heart rate (so the infants were stressed), while those picked up and carried by the mother while walking around calmed down significantly. The effect of being held motionless in the arm was intermediate between that of being carried around and that of being put down. That carrying (e.g., in a baby sling) makes infants more content and makes them cry less had already been shown in a randomized study in 1986.


title: Infant

text: Many airlines refuse boarding for all babies aged under 7 days (for domestic flights) or 14 days for international flights. Asiana Airlines allows babies to board international flights at 7 days of age. Garuda Indonesia disallows all babies under the age of 14 days to board any flights.


title: Infant

text: Delta Air Lines allows infants to travel when they are less than 7 days old when they present a physician travel approval letter. Skywest will not allow an infant less than 8 days old on board.


title: Infant

text: Attachment theory is primarily an evolutionary and ethological theory whereby the infant or child "seeks proximity" to a "specified attachment figure" in situations of alarm or distress for the purpose of survival. The forming of attachments is considered to be the foundation of the infant/child's capacity to form and conduct relationships throughout life. Attachment is not the same as love or affection although they often go together. Attachment and attachment behaviors tend to develop between the age of 6 months and 3 years. Infants become attached to adults who are sensitive and responsive in social interactions with the infant, and who remain as consistent caregivers for some time. Parental responses lead to the development of patterns of attachment, which in turn lead to 'internal working models' which will guide the individual's feelings, thoughts, and expectations in later relationships. There are a number of attachment 'styles' namely 'secure', 'anxious-ambivalent', 'anxious-avoidant', (all 'organized') and 'disorganized', some of which are more problematic than others. A lack of attachment or a seriously disrupted capacity for attachment could potentially amount to serious disorders.


title: Infant

text: Infants develop distinct relationships to their mothers, fathers, siblings, and non-familial caregivers. Beside the dyadic attachment relationships also a good quality of the triadic relationships (mother – father – infant) is important for infant mental health development.


title: Infant

text: Infants respond to the sound of snake hissing, angry voices of adults, the crackling sound of a fire, thunder, and the cries of other infants. They have a drop in heart rate, their eyes blinking, increased turning toward the speakers or parent, all of these indicating that they were paying more attention. This is believed to be an evolutionary response to danger. Babies' ability to accurately locate sounds is refined during their first year.


title: Infant

text: The infant is undergoing many adaptations to extrauterine life, and its physiological systems, such as the immune system, are far from fully developed. Potential diseases of concern during the neonatal period include:


title: Infant

text: Infant mortality is the death of an infant in the first year of life, often expressed as the number of deaths per 1000 live births (infant mortality rate). Major causes of infant mortality include dehydration, infection, congenital malformation and SIDS.


title: Infant

text: This epidemiological indicator is recognized as a very important measure of the level of health care in a country because it is directly linked with the health status of infants, children, and pregnant women as well as access to medical care, socioeconomic conditions, and public health practices.


title: Infant

text: There is a positive relationship between national wealth and good health. The rich and industrialized countries of the world, prominently Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan, spend a large proportion of their wealthy budget on the health care system. As, a result, their health care systems are very sophisticated, with many physicians, nurses, and other health care experts servicing the population. Thus, infant mortality is low. On the other hand, a country such as Mexico, which spends disproportionately less of its budget on healthcare, suffers from high mortality rates. This is because the general population is likely to be less healthy. In the U.S., infant mortality rates are especially high in minority groups. For instance, non-Hispanic black women have an infant mortality rate of 13.63 per 1000 live births whereas in non-Hispanic white women it was much lower at a rate of 5.76 per 1000 live births. The average infant mortality rate in the U.S. is 6.8 per 1000 live births.


title: Infant

text: Babyhood is a critical period in personality development when the foundations of adult personality are laid. In contrast toddler is used to denote a baby that has achieved relative independence, in moving about, and feeding.


title: May Day

text: May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Traditions often include gathering wildflowers and green branches, weaving floral garlands, crowning a May Queen (sometimes with a male companion), and setting up a Maypole, May Tree or May Bush, around which people dance. Bonfires are also part of the festival in some regions. Regional varieties and related traditions include Walpurgis Night in central and northern Europe, the Gaelic festival Beltane, the Welsh festival Calan Mai, and May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It has also been associated with the ancient Roman festival Floralia.


title: May Day

text: In 1889, 1 May was chosen as the date for International Workers' Day by the Second International, to commemorate the Haymarket affair in Chicago and the struggle for an eight-hour working day. As a result, International Workers' Day is also called "May Day", but the two are otherwise unrelated.


title: May Day

text: The earliest known May celebrations appeared with the "Floralia", festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, held from 27 April – 3 May during the Roman Republic era, and the "Maiouma" or "Maiuma", a festival celebrating Dionysus and Aphrodite held every three years during the month of May. The Floralia opened with theatrical performances. In the Floralia, Ovid says that hares and goats were released as part of the festivities. Persius writes that crowds were pelted with vetches, beans, and lupins. A ritual called the "Florifertum" was performed on either 27 April or 3 May, during which a bundle of wheat ears was carried into a shrine, though it is not clear if this devotion was made to Flora or Ceres. Floralia concluded with competitive events and spectacles, and a sacrifice to Flora.


title: May Day

text: Maiouma was celebrated at least as early as the 2nd century AD, when records show expenses for the month-long festival were appropriated by Emperor Commodus. According to the 6th-century chronicles of John Malalas, the Maiouma was a "nocturnal dramatic festival, held every three years and known as Orgies, that is, the Mysteries of Dionysus and Aphrodite" and that it was "known as the Maioumas because it is celebrated in the month of May-Artemisios". During this time, enough money was set aside by the government for torches, lights, and other expenses to cover a thirty-day festival of "all-night revels." The Maiouma was celebrated with splendorous banquets and offerings. Its reputation for licentiousness caused it to be suppressed during the reign of Emperor Constantine, though a less debauched version of it was briefly restored during the reigns of Arcadius and Honorius, only to be suppressed again during the same period.


title: May Day

text: A later May festival celebrated in Germanic countries, Walpurgis Night, commemorates the official canonization of Saint Walpurga on 1 May 870. In Gaelic culture, the evening of April 30th was the celebration of Beltane (which translates to "lucky fire") as well as the similar Welsh Calan Mai, and marks the start of the summer season. First attested in 900 AD, the celebration mainly focused on the symbolic use of fire to bless cattle and other livestock as they were moved to summer pastures. This custom continued into the early 19th century, during which time cattle would be made to jump over fires to protect their milk from being stolen by fairies. People would also leap over the fires for luck.


title: May Day

text: Since the 18th century, many Roman Catholics have observed May – and May Day – with various May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In works of art, school skits, and so forth, Mary's head will often be adorned with flowers in a May crowning. 1 May is also one of two feast days of the Catholic patron saint of workers St Joseph the Worker, a carpenter, husband to Mother Mary, and foster father of Jesus. Replacing another feast to St. Joseph, this date was chosen by Pope Pius XII in 1955 as a counterpoint to the communist International Workers' Day celebrations on May Day.


title: May Day

text: The best known modern May Day traditions, observed both in Europe and North America, include dancing around the maypole and crowning the Queen of May. Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the tradition of giving of "May baskets," small baskets of sweets or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbours' doorsteps.


title: May Day

text: In the late 20th century, many neopagans began reconstructing some of the older pagan festivals and combining them with more recently developed European secular and Catholic traditions, and celebrating May Day as a pagan religious festival.


title: May Day

text: Locally known as 'Labour day' (Dutch: "Dag van de arbeid", French: "Fête du Travail"), Belgium has celebrated May Day as a public holiday since 1948.


title: May Day

text: On May Day, Bulgarians celebrate Irminden (or Yeremiya, Eremiya, Irima, Zamski den). The holiday is associated with snakes and lizards and rituals are made in order to protect people from them. The name of the holiday comes from the prophet Jeremiah, but its origins are most probably pagan.


title: May Day

text: It is said that on the days of the Holy Forty or Annunciation snakes come out of their burrows, and on Irminden their king comes out. Old people believe that those working in the fields on this day will be bitten by a snake in summer.


title: May Day

text: In western Bulgaria people light fires, jump over them and make noises to scare snakes. Another custom is to prepare "podnici" (special clay pots made for baking bread).


title: May Day

text: This day is especially observed by pregnant women so that their offspring do not catch "yeremiya"—an illness due to evil powers.


title: May Day

text: In the Czech Republic, May Day is traditionally considered a holiday of love and May as a month of love. The celebrations of spring are held on April 30 when a maypole ("májka" in Czech) is erected—a tradition possibly connected to Beltane, since bonfires are also lit on the same day. The event is similar to German Walpurgisnacht, its public holiday on April 30.


title: May Day

text: On May 1st, couples in love kiss under a blooming tree. According to the ethnographer Klára Posekaná, this is not an old habit. It most likely originated around the beginning of the 20th century in an urban environment, perhaps in connection with Karel Hynek Mácha's poem Máj (which is often recited during these days) and Petřín. This is usually done under a cherry, an apple or a birch tree.


title: May Day

text: May Day or "Spring Day" ("Kevadpüha") is a national holiday in Estonia celebrating the arrival of spring.


title: May Day

text: More traditional festivities take place throughout the night before and into the early hours of 1 May, on the Walpurgis Night ("Volbriöö").


title: May Day

text: In Finland, Walpurgis night (') ("") is one of the four biggest holidays along with Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, and Midsummer ('). Walpurgis witnesses the biggest carnival-style festival held in Finland's cities and towns. The celebrations, which begin on the evening of 30 April and continue on 1 May, typically centre on the consumption of sima, sparkling wine and other alcoholic beverages. Student traditions, particularly those of engineering students, are one of the main characteristics of '. Since the end of the 19th century, this traditional upper-class feast has been appropriated by university students. Many ' (university-preparatory high school) alumni wear the black and white student cap and many higher education students wear student coveralls. One tradition is to drink sima, a home-made low-alcohol mead, along with freshly cooked funnel cakes.


title: May Day

text: On 1 May 1561, King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a lucky charm. He decided to offer a lily of the valley each year to the ladies of the court. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became custom to give a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of springtime, on 1 May. The government permits individuals and workers' organisations to sell them tax-free on that single day. Nowadays, people may present loved ones either with bunches of lily of the valley or dog rose flowers.


title: May Day

text: In rural regions of Germany, especially the Harz Mountains, "Walpurgisnacht" celebrations of pagan origin are traditionally held on the night before May Day, including bonfires and the wrapping of a "Maibaum" (maypole). Young people use this opportunity to party, while the day itself is used by many families to get some fresh air. Motto: "Tanz in den Mai" (""Dance into May"").


title: May Day

text: In the Rhineland, 1 May is also celebrated by the delivery of a maypole, a tree covered in streamers to the house of a girl the night before. The tree is typically from a love interest, though a tree wrapped only in white streamers is a sign of dislike. Women usually place roses or rice in the form of a heart at the house of their beloved one. It is common to stick the heart to a window or place it in front of the doormat. In leap years, it is the responsibility of the women to place the maypole. All the action is usually done secretly and it is an individual's choice whether to give a hint of their identity or stay anonymous.


title: May Day

text: May Day was not established as a public holiday until Nazi Germany declared 1 May a "national workers' day" in 1933. As Labour Day, many political parties and unions host activities related to work and employment.


title: May Day

text: Maios (Latin Maius), the month of May, took its name from the goddess Maia (Gr ), a Greek and Roman goddess of fertility. The day of Maios (Modern Greek Πρωτομαγιά) celebrates the final victory of the summer against winter as the victory of life against death. The celebration is similar to an ancient ritual associated with another minor demi-god Adonis which also celebrated the revival of nature. There is today some conflation with yet another tradition, the revival or marriage of Dionysus (the Greek God of theatre and wine-making). This event, however, was celebrated in ancient times not in May but in association with the Anthesteria, a festival held in February and dedicated to the goddess of agriculture Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Persephone emerged every year at the end of Winter from the Underworld. The Anthesteria was a festival of souls, plants and flowers, and Persephone's coming to earth from Hades marked the rebirth of nature, a common theme in all these traditions.


title: May Day

text: What remains of the customs today, echoes these traditions of antiquity. A common, until recently, May Day custom involved the annual revival of a youth called Adonis, or alternatively of Dionysus, or of Maios (in Modern Greek Μαγιόπουλο, the Son of Maia). In a simple theatrical ritual, the significance of which has long been forgotten, a chorus of young girls sang a song over a youth lying on the ground, representing Adonis, Dionysus or Maios. At the end of the song, the youth rose up and a flower wreath was placed on his head.


title: May Day

text: The most common aspect of modern May Day celebrations is the preparation of a flower wreath from wild flowers, although as a result of urbanisation there is an increasing trend to buy wreaths from flower shops. The flowers are placed on the wreath against a background of green leaves and the wreath is hung either on the entrance to the family house/apartment or on a balcony. It remains there until midsummer night. On that night, the flower wreaths are set alight in bonfires known as Saint John's fires. Youths leap over the flames consuming the flower wreaths. This custom has also practically disappeared, like the theatrical revival of Adonis/Dionysus/Maios, as a result of rising urban traffic and with no alternative public grounds in most Greek city neighbourhoods.


title: May Day

text: May Day has been celebrated in Ireland since pagan times as the feast of Beltane and in latter times as Mary's day. Traditionally, bonfires were lit to mark the coming of summer and to grant luck to people and livestock. Officially Irish May Day holiday is the first Monday in May. The tradition of a MayBush was reported as being suppressed by law and the magistrates in Dublin in the 18th century. Old traditions such as bonfires are no longer widely observed, though the practice still persists in some places across the country. Limerick, Clare and many other people in other counties still keep on this tradition, including areas in Dublin city such as Ringsend.


title: May Day

text: In Italy it is called "Calendimaggio" or "cantar maggio" a seasonal feast held to celebrate the arrival of spring. The event takes its name from the period in which it takes place, that is, the beginning of May, from the Latin "calenda maia". The Calendimaggio is a tradition still alive today in many regions of Italy as an allegory of the return to life and rebirth: among these Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna (for example, is celebrated in the area of the "Quattro Province" or Piacenza, Pavia, Alessandria and Genoa), Tuscany and Umbria. This magical-propitiatory ritual is often performed during an almsgiving in which, in exchange for gifts (traditionally eggs, wine, food or sweets), the Maggi (or maggerini) sing auspicious verses to the inhabitants of the houses they visit. Throughout the Italian peninsula these "Il Maggio" couplets are very diverse—most are love songs with a strong romantic theme, that young people sang to celebrate the arrival of spring. Roman families traditionally eat pecorino with fresh fava beans during an excursion in the Roman Campagna. Symbols of spring revival are the trees (alder, golden rain) and flowers (violets, roses), mentioned in the verses of the songs, and with which the maggerini adorn themselves. In particular the plant alder, which grows along the rivers, is considered the symbol of life and that's why it is often present in the ritual.


title: May Day

text: Calendimaggio can be historically noted in Tuscany as a mythical character who had a predominant role and met many of the attributes of the god Belenus. In Lucania, the 'Maggi' have a clear auspicious character of pagan origin. In Syracuse, Sicily, the "Albero della Cuccagna" (cf. "Greasy pole") is held during the month of May, a feast celebrated to commemorate the victory over the Athenians led by Nicias. However, Angelo de Gubernatis, in his work "Mythology of Plants", believes that without doubt the festival was previous to that of said victory.


title: May Day

text: It is a celebration that dates back to ancient peoples, and is very integrated with the rhythms of nature, such as the Celts (celebrating Beltane), Etruscans and Ligures, in which the arrival of summer was of great importance.


title: May Day

text: In Poland, there is a state holiday on 1 May. It is currently celebrated without a specific connotation, and as such it is May Day. However, due to historical connotations, most of the celebrations are focused around Labour Day festivities. It is customary for labour activists and left-wing political parties to organize parades in cities and towns across Poland on this day. The holiday is also commonly referred to as "Labour Day" ("Święto Pracy").


title: May Day

text: The May Day in Poland is closely followed by another state holiday, 3 May Constitution Day. The Parliamentary Act of February 20, 2004 introduced the Polish National Flag Day observed on 2 May. While not a public holiday, together with the other two it constitutes the so-called "Majówka"—a three-day celebration period often considered the beginning of the barbecue season in the country.


title: May Day

text: "Maias" is a superstition throughout Portugal, with special focus on the northern territories and rarely elsewhere. Maias is the dominant naming in Northern Portugal, but it may be referred to by other names, including Dia das Bruxas (Witches' day), O Burro (the Donkey, referring to an evil spirit) or the last of April, as the local traditions preserved to this day occur on that evening only. People put the yellow flowers of broom, the bushes are known as giestas. The flowers of the bush are known as Maias, which are placed on doors or gates and every doorway of houses, windows, granaries, currently also cars, which the populace collect on the evening of 30 April when the Portuguese brooms are blooming, to defend those places from bad spirits, witches and the evil eye. The placement of the May flower or bush in the doorway must be done before midnight.


title: May Day

text: These festivities are a continuum of the "Os Maios" of Galiza. In ancient times, this was done while playing traditional night-music. In some places, children were dressed in these flowers and went from place to place begging for money or bread. On May 1, people also used to sing "Cantigas de Maio", traditional songs related to this day and the whole month of May.


title: May Day

text: The origin of this tradition can be traced to the Catholic Church story of Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt to protect Jesus from Herod. It was said that brooms could be found at the door of the house holding Jesus, but when Herod's soldiers arrived to the place they found every door decorated with brooms.


title: May Day

text: On May Day, the Romanians celebrate the "arminden" (or "armindeni"), the beginning of summer, symbolically tied with the protection of crops and farm animals. The name comes from Slavonic "Jeremiinŭ dĭnĭ", meaning prophet Jeremiah's day, but the celebration rites and habits of this day are apotropaic and pagan (possibly originating in the cult of the god Pan).


title: May Day

text: The day is also called "ziua pelinului" ("mugwort day") or "ziua bețivilor" ("drunkards' day") and it is celebrated to ensure good wine in autumn and, for people and farm animals alike, good health and protection from the elements of nature (storms, hail, illness, pests). People would have parties in natural surroundings, with "lăutari" (fiddlers) for those who could afford it. Then it is customary to roast and eat lamb, along with new mutton cheese, and to drink mugwort-flavoured wine, or just red wine, to refresh the blood and get protection from diseases. On the way back, the men wear lilac or mugwort flowers on their hats.


title: May Day

text: Other apotropaic rites include, in some areas of the country, people washing their faces with the morning dew (for good health) and adorning the gates for good luck and abundance with green branches or with birch saplings (for the houses with maiden girls). The entries to the animals' shelters are also adorned with green branches. All branches are left in place until the wheat harvest when they are used in the fire which will bake the first bread from the new wheat.


title: May Day

text: On May Day eve, country women do not work in the field as well as in the house to avoid devastating storms and hail coming down on the village.


title: May Day

text: "Arminden" is also "ziua boilor" (oxen day) and thus the animals are not to be used for work, or else they could die or their owners could get ill.


title: May Day

text: "Prvomajski uranak" (Reveille on May 1st) is a folk tradition and feast that consists of the fact that on 1 May, people go in the nature or even leave the day before and spend the night with a camp fire. Most of the time, a dish is cooked in a kettle or in a barbecue. Among Serbs this holiday is widespread. Almost every town in Serbia has its own traditional first-of-may excursion sites, and most often these are green areas outside the city.


title: May Day

text: May Day is celebrated throughout the country as "Los Mayos" (lit. "the Mays") often in a similar way to "Fiesta de las Cruces" in many parts of Hispanic America. One such example, in Galicia, is the festival "" (or "Festa dos Maios" in Galician, the local language). It has a celtic origin (from the festivity of Beltane) and consists of different traditions, such as representations around a decorated tree or sculpture. People sing popular songs (also called "maios",) making mentions to social and political events during the past year, sometimes under the form of a converse, while they walk around the sculpture with the percussion of two sticks. In Lugo and in the village of Vilagarcía de Arousa it was usual to ask a tip to the attendees, which used to be a handful of dry chestnuts ("castañas maiolas"), walnuts or hazelnuts. Today the tradition became a competition where the best sculptures and songs receive a prize.


title: May Day

text: In the Galician city of Ourense this day is celebrated traditionally on 3 May, the day of the Holy Cross, that in the Christian tradition replaced the tree "where the health, life and resurrection are," according to the introit of that day's mass.


title: May Day

text: The more traditional festivities have moved to the day before, Walpurgis Night ("Valborgsmässoafton"), known in some locales as simply "Last of April" and often celebrated with bonfires and a good bit of drinking. The first of May is instead celebrated as International Workers' Day.


title: May Day

text: It has celebrated officially in Turkey for the first time in 1923. Since 2009, It is celebrated in Turkey as a public holiday on the first of May.


title: May Day

text: Traditional English May Day rites and celebrations include crowning a May Queen and celebrations involving a maypole, around which dancers often circle with ribbons. Historically, Morris dancing has been linked to May Day celebrations. The earliest records of maypole celebrations date to the 14th century, and by the 15th century the maypole tradition was well established in southern Britain. The tradition persists into the 21st century in the Isle of Ely. Centenary Green part of the Octavia Hill Birthplace House, Wisbech has a flagpole which converts into a Maypole each year, used by local schools and other groups.


title: May Day

text: The early May bank holiday on the first Monday in May was created in 1978; May Day itself1 Mayis not a public holiday in England (unless it falls on a Monday). In February 2011, the UK Parliament was reported to be considering scrapping the bank holiday associated with May Day, replacing it with a bank holiday in October, possibly coinciding with Trafalgar Day (celebrated on October 21), to create a "United Kingdom Day". Similarly, attempts were made by the John Major government in 1993 to abolish the May Day holiday and replace it with Trafalgar Day.


title: May Day

text: Unlike the other Bank Holidays and common law holidays, the first Monday in May is taken off from (state) schools by itself, and not as part of a half-term or end of term holiday. This is because it has no Christian significance and does not otherwise fit into the usual school holiday pattern. (By contrast, the Easter Holiday can start as late—relative to Easter—as Good Friday, if Easter falls early in the year; or finish as early—relative to Easter—as Easter Monday, if Easter falls late in the year, because of the supreme significance of Good Friday and Easter Day to Christianity.)


title: May Day

text: May Day was abolished and its celebration banned by Puritan parliaments during the Interregnum, but reinstated with the restoration of Charles II in 1660. 1 May 1707, was the day the Act of Union came into effect, joining the kingdoms of England (including Wales) and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.


title: May Day

text: In Cambridgeshire villages, young girls went May Dolling (going around the villages with dressed dolls and collecting pennies). This dressing of dolls and singing was said to have persisted into the 1960s in Swaffham Prior


title: May Day

text: In Oxford, it is a centuries-old tradition for May Morning revellers to gather below the Great Tower of Magdalen College at 6am to listen to the college choir sing traditional madrigals as a conclusion to the previous night's celebrations. Since the 1980s some people then jump off Magdalen Bridge into the River Cherwell. For some years, the bridge has been closed on 1 May to prevent people from jumping, as the water under the bridge is only deep and jumping from the bridge has resulted in serious injury in the past. There are still people who climb the barriers and leap into the water, causing themselves injury.


title: May Day

text: In Durham, students of the University of Durham gather on Prebend's Bridge to see the sunrise and enjoy festivities, folk music, dancing, madrigal singing and a barbecue breakfast. This is an emerging Durham tradition, with patchy observance since 2001.


title: May Day

text: Kingsbury Episcopi, Somerset, has seen its yearly May Day Festival celebrations on the May bank holiday Monday burgeon in popularity in the recent years. Since it was reinstated 21 years ago it has grown in size, and on 5 May 2014 thousands of revellers were attracted from all over the south-west to enjoy the festivities, with BBC Somerset covering the celebrations. These include traditional maypole dancing and morris dancing, as well as contemporary music acts.


title: May Day

text: Whitstable, Kent, hosts a good example of more traditional May Day festivities, where the Jack in the Green festival was revived in 1976 and continues to lead an annual procession of morris dancers through the town on the May bank holiday. A separate revival occurred in Hastings in 1983 and has become a major event in the town calendar. A traditional sweeps festival is performed over the May bank holiday in Rochester, Kent, where the Jack in the Green is woken at dawn on 1 May by Morris dancers.


title: May Day

text: At 7:15 p.m. on 1 May each year, the Kettle Bridge Clogs morris dancing side dance across Barming Bridge (otherwise known as the Kettle Bridge), which spans the River Medway near Maidstone, to mark the official start of their morris dancing season.


title: May Day

text: The Maydayrun involves thousands of motorbikes taking a trip from Greater London (Locksbottom) to the Hastings seafront, East Sussex. The event has been taking place for almost 30 years now and has grown in interest from around the country, both commercially and publicly. The event is not officially organised; the police only manage the traffic, and volunteers manage the parking.


title: May Day

text: Padstow in Cornwall holds its annual Obby-Oss (Hobby Horse) day of festivities. This is believed to be one of the oldest fertility rites in the UK; revellers dance with the Oss through the streets of the town and even though the private gardens of the citizens, accompanied by accordion players and followers dressed in white with red or blue sashes who sing the traditional "May Day" song. The whole town is decorated with springtime greenery, and every year thousands of onlookers attend. Before the 19th century, distinctive May Day celebrations were widespread throughout West Cornwall, and are being revived in St. Ives and Penzance.


title: May Day

text: Kingsand, Cawsand and Millbrook in Cornwall celebrate Flower Boat Ritual on the May Day bank holiday. A model of the ship "The Black Prince" is covered in flowers and is taken in a procession from the Quay at Millbrook to the beach at Cawsand where it is cast adrift. The houses in the villages are decorated with flowers and people traditionally wear red and white clothes. There are further celebrations in Cawsand Square with Morris dancing and May pole dancing.


title: May Day

text: May Day has been celebrated in Scotland for centuries. It was previously closely associated with the Beltane festival. Reference to this earlier celebration is found in poem 'Peblis to the Play', contained in the Maitland Manuscripts of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Scots poetry:


title: May Day

text: The poem describes the celebration in the town of Peebles in the Scottish Borders, which continues to stage a parade and pageant each year, including the annual ‘Common Riding’, which takes place in many towns throughout the Borders. As well as the crowning of a Beltane Queen each year, it is custom to sing ‘The Beltane Song’.


title: May Day

text: John Jamieson, in his "Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language" (1808) describes some of the May Day/Beltane customs which persisted in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in parts of Scotland, which he noted were beginning to die out. In the nineteenth century, folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832–1912), collected the song "Am Beannachadh Bealltain" ("The Beltane Blessing") in his "Carmina Gadelica", which he heard from a crofter in South Uist.


title: May Day

text: Scottish May Day/Beltane celebrations have been somewhat revived since the late twentieth century. Both Edinburgh and Glasgow organise May Day festivals and rallies. In Edinburgh, the Beltane Fire Festival is held on the evening of May eve and into the early hours of May Day on the city's Calton Hill. An older Edinburgh tradition has it that young women who climb Arthur's Seat and wash their faces in the morning dew will have lifelong beauty. At the University of St Andrews, some of the students gather on the beach late on 30 April and run into the North Sea at sunrise on May Day, occasionally naked. This is accompanied by torchlit processions and much elated celebration.


title: May Day

text: In Wales the first day of May is known as "Calan Mai" or "Calan Haf", and parallels the festival of Beltane and other May Day traditions in Europe.


title: May Day

text: Traditions would start the night before ("Nos Galan Haf") with bonfires, and is considered a "Ysbrydnos" or "spirit night" when people would gather hawthorn ("draenen wen") and flowers to decorate their houses, celebrating new growth and fertility. While on May Day celebrations would include summer dancing ("dawnsio haf") and May carols ("carolau mai" or "carolau haf") othertimes referred to as "singing under the wall" ("canu dan y pared)," May Day was also a time for officially opening a village green (twmpath chwarae).


title: May Day

text: May Day is celebrated in some parts of the provinces of British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario.


title: May Day

text: In Toronto, on the morning of 1 May, various Morris Dancing troops from Toronto and Hamilton gather on the road by Grenadier Cafe, in High Park to "dance in the May". The dancers and crowd then gather together and sing traditional May Day songs such as Hal-An-Tow and Padstow.


title: May Day

text: Celebrations often take place not on 1 May but during the Victoria Day long weekend, later in the month and when the weather is likely to be better. The longest continually observed May Day in the British Commonwealth is held in the city of New Westminster, BC. There, the first May Day celebration was held on 4 May 1870.


title: May Day

text: May Day was also celebrated by some early European settlers of the American continent. In some parts of the United States, May baskets are made. These are small baskets usually filled with flowers or treats and left at someone's doorstep. The giver rings the bell and runs away.


title: May Day

text: Modern May Day ceremonies in the U.S. vary greatly from region to region and many unite both the holiday's "Green Root" (pagan) and "Red Root" (labour) traditions.


title: May Day

text: May Day celebrations were common at women's colleges and academic institutions in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, a tradition that continues at Bryn Mawr College and Brenau University to this day.


title: May Day

text: In Minneapolis, the May Day Parade and Festival is presented annually by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre on the first Sunday in May, and draws around 50,000 people to Powderhorn Park. On 1 May itself, local Morris Dance sides converge on an overlook of the Mississippi River at dawn, and then spend the remainder of the day dancing around the metro area.


title: May Day

text: In Hawaii, May Day is also known as Lei Day, and it is normally set aside as a day to celebrate island culture in general and the culture of the Native Hawaiians in particular. Invented by poet and local newspaper columnist Don Blanding, the first Lei Day was celebrated on 1 May 1927 in Honolulu. Leonard "Red" and Ruth Hawk composed "May Day Is Lei Day in Hawai'i," the traditional holiday song.


title: F Is for Family

text: F Is for Family is an American adult animated comedy drama streaming television series created by Bill Burr and Michael Price for Netflix. It is produced by Vince Vaughn's Wild West Television, King of France Productions, Loner Productions, Gaumont International Television and Gaumont Animation. Set between October 1973 and December 1974, the series follows a dysfunctional suburban Irish-American family in the fictional town of Rustvale, Pennsylvania.


title: F Is for Family

text: "F Is For Family" premiered on December 18, 2015. On October 1, 2020, Netflix renewed it for its fifth and final season and the series ended on November 25, 2021 with a total of 44 episodes over five seasons. The first season contains six episodes; the next three contains ten episodes; and the final, eight. The series received consistently positive reviews throughout its run.


title: F Is for Family

text: The series was announced in October 2014 as part of a partnership between Netflix, Gaumont International Television, and Wild West Television. The show is a "family comedy" based on the standup of Bill Burr. Moreover, the show takes place in the 1970s, "a time when you could smack your kid, smoke inside, and bring a gun to the airport". Burr voices the Murphy family patriarch, with Laura Dern as his wife, Justin Long as his eldest son, Debi Derryberry as his daughter Maureen, and Haley Reinhart as his young son. The first season consists of six episodes, shown in a serial manner, written by Bill Burr and Michael Price. Price is best known for his Emmy and Writers Guild award-winning work on "The Simpsons". The series is directed by Ben Marsaud (director of "Counterfeit Cat" & former storyboard artist on "The Amazing World of Gumball"). Season 2 premiered May 30, 2017. On June 28, 2017, the show was renewed for a third season. On July 1, 2018, Burr confirmed season three. On November 30, 2018, the third season was released. On January 24, 2019, the show was renewed for a fourth season, which was released on June 12, 2020. On October 1, 2020, Netflix renewed the series for the fifth and final season which was released on November 25, 2021.


title: F Is for Family

text: Many references are made to the city of Pittsburgh in the series, a city that Burr has visited frequently on his stand-up tours and shares a hatred of the Philadelphia Flyers with local sportscaster Mark Madden. This has included the characters flying over the Pittsburgh exurb of Steubenville, Ohio on their way to Cleveland and said jokes about Pittsburgh being made in Cleveland, the character of Bridget Fitzsimmons wanting to run away to Pittsburgh, and the airline Alaquippa Airlines being named after the Pittsburgh suburb of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.


title: F Is for Family

text: "F is for Family" has been described as "a direct attack on the ideals and assumptions we associate with the American Dream". Throughout its 5-season run, the series satirizes and explores several issues exclusive to the socioeconomic and cultural upheaval of 1970s America, including those with or within marriage, labor, economy, war, masculinity, feminism, sexism, domestic abuse, racism, political corruption, education, sexuality and adolescence.


title: F Is for Family

text: In an essay on why the series is the perfect satire on the American Dream, Author Jack C. Fisher argues that Frank Murphy personifies the general disillusionment with the Dream that took place during the economic stagnation of the early-1970s: "Take everything you think you know about what it means to work hard, get ahead, and achieve your goals in life. Then, kick it in the gut, spit on it, and throw it through a brick wall. That’s Frank Murphy’s life. That’s what "F is for Family" is all about." He writes that Frank’s belligerent personality is a byproduct of that said disillusionment and cites the transformation he goes through in the series’ opening sequence as reflecting who he used to be: "an upbeat, optimistic man who reflected the spirit of his time and his country".


title: F Is for Family

text: In an essay on the series, cultural historian Shalon Van Tine argues that the primary theme explored in "F is For Family" is the "changing nature of masculinity in the 1970s", mostly depicted through Frank Murphy’s perspective: "Frank believes in hard work and feels that the traditional family structure is ideal, but throughout the show, he learns the hard truth that the American dream is a lie. Much of his persona is based around the notion that he must be a “good man”—one who served his country in the Korean War, married his girl when she got pregnant, works a dead-end job to provide for his family, and raises three rowdy kids to stay out of trouble. Yet, Frank’s masculinity is constantly challenged, beginning with him losing his job." "For the average man in the Seventies, and for most of the twentieth century for that matter, losing his job meant losing his identity. The concept of "being a man" was heavily wrapped up in one’s work and ability to provide for his family"; Van Tine notes that after losing his job at Mohican Airways, Frank also begins to lose his traditional traits of masculinity such as an emotional stoicism and high sex drive until he completely loses his "male confidence" and feels too ashamed to even file for unemployment. When Frank’s housewife Sue Murphy picks up a job and succeeds at where he is failing, Frank feels emasculated and insecure at the shift in gender roles that in one instance he tries to sabotage her promotion. In a later confrontation, he confesses to wanting to see her fail, saying "As a man, I have to do better or what am I?".


title: F Is for Family

text: The series has received positive reviews. On Metacritic, it holds a score of 75 out of 100, based on 14 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews."


title: F Is for Family

text: The first season was released to positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a rating of 85% based on 20 reviews, with an average score of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "While the humor relies on vulgarity, the strength of "F Is for Family" is its substantial heart." Zack Handlen of "The A.V. Club" called it a “bitter, but deeply empathetic portrayal of suburban malaise and depression that also doubles as a very funny TV show”. Emily St. James of "Vox" wrote that “"F Is for Family" is quite a bit of fun” adding, “it isn't a bad way to kill a few hours”.


title: F Is for Family

text: The series received further critical acclaim with its second season, which holds a rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 7.1/10 based on 9 reviews. In his review for "IndieWire", Ben Travers praised the season for its dramatic shift in genre, writing “"F is for Family" illustrates why it’s important to see series for what they are, rather than through the genre lens thrust upon them.”


title: F Is for Family

text: In a positive review of the third season, Merrill Barr of "Forbes" concluded: "Overall, the third season of "F Is for Family" continues to deliver on the things that make it such a worthy and unique addition to the Netflix landscape."


title: Tracy Nelson (actress)

text: Tracy Kristine Nelson (born October 25, 1963) is an American actress. From a long line of entertainers, she is the daughter of musician Ricky Nelson and actress and painter Kristin Nelson.


title: Tracy Nelson (actress)

text: Nelson was born in Santa Monica, California. She is a fourth-generation performer. Her great-grandparents were vaudeville performers Hazel Dell (née McNutt) and Roy Hilliard Snyder. Their daughter was her paternal grandmother Harriet Nelson, the star of the ABC-TV sitcom "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from 1952-1966." Her parents were musician / film actor Ricky Nelson and actress/artist Kristin Nelson (née Harmon). She has three younger siblings: Matthew Nelson and Gunnar Nelson of the 1990s rock group Nelson, and Sam Nelson. Her paternal grandparents were Ozzie and Harriet Hilliard Nelson. Nelson's maternal grandparents were football star Tom Harmon, a Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Michigan, and actress Elyse Knox. She is also the niece of actors David Nelson, and her mother's siblings Mark Harmon and Kelly Harmon.


title: Tracy Nelson (actress)

text: She went to The Buckley School and graduated in 1981 from the Westlake School for Girls (now Harvard-Westlake School) in Los Angeles. She attended Bard College in upstate New York, studying Dance and European History.


title: Tracy Nelson (actress)

text: Nelson started her career early; her first role was as herself at age three months on her grandparents' television show.


title: Tracy Nelson (actress)

text: At age four she played one of Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball's daughters in "Yours, Mine and Ours" (1968). Her future co-star Tom Bosley also appeared in that movie.


title: Tracy Nelson (actress)

text: Nelson is a professional dancer, having studied ballet for 17 years with Tania Lachine and toured throughout California in a dance company while still in grammar school. Nelson studied theater with Kim Stanley and Nina Foch and briefly in the United Kingdom, performing in The Edinburgh Fringe Festival after graduation from high school. In 1982, she played "valley girl" Jennifer DeNuccio on the television series "Square Pegs", and in 1986 she landed the role of the anorexic daughter in Paul Mazursky's film "Down and Out in Beverly Hills".


title: Tracy Nelson (actress)

text: Nelson co-starred in the television series "The Father Dowling Mysteries" as "Sister Stephanie" for its three seasons. She was also a series regular on Aaron Spelling's "Glitter", "A League of Their Own", and the Australian television series "The Man From Snowy River". Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Nelson made guest appearances on television series including "Family Ties", "St. Elsewhere", "Murphy Brown", "The Nanny", "7th Heaven", "Melrose Place", "Will and Grace", "Matlock", "Diagnosis Murder", and "Seinfeld". She was in the touring company and on Broadway as "Rizzo" in "Grease" in 1995. Nelson has appeared in several theatrical releases and over 20 television movies, including "The Perfect Nanny" in 2000, "The Perfect Husband", "Kate's Secret", "The Fight for Jesse", and "The Rival" in 2006.


title: Tracy Nelson (actress)

text: She has written a book about her personal experience and a movie script about her family "The Nelsons."


title: Tracy Nelson (actress)

text: She married actor William R. Moses in 1987. They divorced in 1997 and share a daughter, actress Remington Elizabeth Moses, born in 1992. Nelson had a son, Elijah Nelson Clark, with Chris Clark in 2001.


title: Tracy Nelson (actress)

text: Nelson has survived three kinds of cancer. She was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma a month after her 1987 marriage to Moses, and one year after her father was killed in an aircraft crash on New Year's Eve 1985 in a field in DeKalb, Texas. Nelson went into remission after surgery, chemotherapy (ABVD) and radiation at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California.


title: Tracy Nelson (actress)

text: Having suffered trauma from radiation, Nelson was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2005 and breast cancer in 2010. She fully recovered from a bilateral mastectomy and complete reconstruction.


title: Tracy Nelson (actress)

text: Nelson is active in cancer research advocacy and was the spokesperson for The Lymphoma Research Foundation of America. She received the "Lifesaver Award" from that organization and the "Jill Ireland Award" from the Amie Karen Cancer Fund for Children.


title: Purim

text: Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book of Esther (usually dated to the 5th century BCE).


title: Purim

text: Haman was the royal vizier to Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I or Artaxerxes I; "Khshayarsha" and "Artakhsher" in Old Persian, respectively). His plans were foiled by Mordecai of the tribe of Benjamin, and Esther, Mordecai's cousin and adopted daughter who had become queen of Persia after her marriage to Ahasuerus. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing among the Jews.


title: Purim

text: According to the Scroll of Esther, "they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor". Purim is celebrated among Jews by:


title: Purim

text: Other customs include wearing masks and costumes, public celebrations and parades (), and eating (); men are encouraged to drink wine or any other alcoholic beverage.


title: Purim

text: According to the Hebrew calendar, Purim is celebrated annually on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar (and it is celebrated on Adar II in Hebrew leap years, which occur every two to three years), the day following the victory of the Jews over their enemies. In cities that were protected by a surrounding wall at the time of Joshua, Purim was celebrated on the 15th of the month of Adar on what is known as , since fighting in the walled city of Shushan continued through the 14th day of Adar. Today, only Jerusalem and a few other cities celebrate Purim on the 15th of Adar.


title: Purim

text: "Purim" is the plural of Hebrew "pur", meaning casting lots in the sense of making a random selection. Its use as the name of this festival comes from Esther 3:6-7, describing the choice of date:


title: Purim

text: The Book of Esther begins with a six-month (180-day) drinking feast given by King Ahasuerus of the Persian Empire for the army and Media and the satraps and princes of the 127 provinces of his kingdom, concluding with a seven-day drinking feast for the inhabitants of Shushan (Susa), rich and poor, and a separate drinking feast for the women organized by Queen Vashti in the pavilion of the royal courtyard.


title: Purim

text: At this feast, Ahasuerus gets thoroughly drunk, and at the prompting of his courtiers, orders his wife Vashti to display her beauty before the nobles and populace, wearing her royal crown. The rabbis of the Oral Torah interpret this to mean that he wanted her to wear only her royal crown, meaning that she would be naked. Her refusal prompts Ahasuerus to have her removed from her post. Ahasuerus then orders all young women to be presented to him, so he could choose a new queen to replace Vashti. One of these is Esther, who was orphaned at a young age and was being fostered by her first cousin Mordecai. She finds favor in the King's eyes, and is made his new wife. Esther does not reveal her origins or that she is Jewish as Mordecai told her not to. Since the Torah permits an uncle to marry his niece and the choice of words used in the text, some rabbinic commentators state that she was actually Mordecai's wife.


title: Purim

text: Shortly afterwards, Mordecai discovers a plot by two palace guards Bigthan and Teresh to kill Ahasuerus. They are apprehended and hanged, and Mordecai's service to the King is recorded in the daily record of the court.


title: Purim

text: Ahasuerus appoints Haman as his viceroy. Mordecai, who sits at the palace gates, falls into Haman's disfavor as he refuses to bow down to him. Having found out that Mordecai is Jewish, Haman plans to kill not just Mordecai but the entire Jewish minority in the empire. Obtaining Ahasuerus' permission and funds to execute this plan, he casts lots () to choose the date on which to do this — the 14th of the month of Adar. When Mordecai finds out about the plans, he puts on sackcloth and ashes, a sign of mourning, publicly weeping and lamenting, and many other Jews in Shushan and other parts of Ahasuerus' empire do likewise, with widespread penitence and fasting. Esther discovers what has transpired; there follows an exchange of messages between her and Mordecai, with Hatach, one of the palace servants, as the intermediary. Mordecai requests that she intercede with the King on behalf of the embattled Jews; she replies that nobody is allowed to approach the King, under penalty of death.


title: Purim

text: Mordecai warns her that she will not be any safer in the palace than any other Jew, says that if she keeps silent, salvation for the Jews will arrive from some other quarter but "you and your father's house (family line) will perish," and suggests that she was elevated to the position of queen to be of help in just such an emergency. Esther has a change of heart, says she will fast and pray for three days and will then approach the King to seek his help, despite the law against doing so, and "if I perish, I perish." She also requests that Mordecai tell all Jews of Shushan to fast and pray for three days together with her. On the third day, she seeks an audience with Ahasuerus, during which she invites him to a feast in the company of Haman. During the feast, she asks them to attend a further feast the next evening. Meanwhile, Haman is again offended by Mordecai's refusal to bow to him; egged on by his wife Zeresh and unidentified friends, he builds a gallows for Mordecai, with the intention to hang him there the very next day.


title: Purim

text: That night, Ahasuerus suffers from insomnia, and when the court's daily records are read to him to help him fall asleep, he learns of the services rendered by Mordecai in the earlier plot against his life. Ahasuerus asks whether anything was done for Mordecai and is told that he received no recognition for saving the King's life. Just then, Haman appears, and King Ahasuerus asks him what should be done for the man that the King wishes to honor. Thinking that the King is referring to Haman himself, Haman says that the honoree should be dressed in the King's royal robes and led around on the King's royal horse. To Haman's horror, the king instructs Haman to render such honors to Mordecai.


title: Purim

text: Later that evening, Ahasuerus and Haman attend Esther's second banquet, at which she reveals that she is Jewish and that Haman is planning to exterminate her people, which includes her. Ahasuerus becomes enraged and instead orders Haman hanged on the gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai. The previous decree against the Jewish people could not be nullified, so the King allows Mordecai and Esther to write another decree as they wish. They decree that Jewish people may preemptively kill those thought to pose a lethal risk. As a result, on 13 Adar, 500 attackers and Haman's 10 sons are killed in Shushan. Throughout the empire 75,000 of the Jewish peoples' enemies are killed. On the 14th, another 300 are killed in Shushan. No spoils are taken.


title: Purim

text: Mordecai assumes the position of second in rank to Ahasuerus, and institutes an annual commemoration of the delivery of the Jewish people from annihilation.


title: Purim

text: The primary source relating to the origin of Purim is the Book of Esther, which became the last of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible to be canonized by the Sages of the Great Assembly. It is dated to the 4th century BCE and according to the Talmud was a redaction by the Great Assembly of an original text by Mordechai.


title: Purim

text: The in the Mishnah (redacted CE) records the laws relating to Purim. The accompanying Tosefta (redacted in the same period) and Gemara (in the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmud redacted CE and CE respectively) record additional contextual details such as Queen Vashti having been the daughter of Belshazzar as well as details that accord with Josephus' such as Esther having been of royal descent. Brief mention of Esther is made in Tractate ( 139b) and idolatry relating to worship of Haman is discussed in Tractate ( 61b).


title: Purim

text: The work Esther Rabbah is a Midrashic text divided in two parts. The first part dated to CE provides an exegetical commentary on the first two chapters of the Hebrew Book of Esther and provided source material for the . The second part may have been redacted as late as the 11th century CE, and contains commentary on the remaining chapters of Esther. It too contains the additional contextual material found in the (a chronicle of Jewish history from Adam to the age of Titus believed to have been written by Josippon or Joseph ben Gorion).


title: Purim

text: The 1st-century CE historian Josephus recounts the origins of Purim in Book 11 of his "Antiquities of the Jews". He follows the Hebrew Book of Esther but shows awareness of some of the additional material found in the Greek version (the Septuagint) in that he too identifies Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes and provides the text of the king's letter. He also provides additional information on the dating of events relative to Ezra and Nehemiah. Josephus also records the Persian persecution of Jews and mentions Jews being forced to worship at Persian erected shrines.


title: Purim

text: The Josippon, a 10th-century CE compilation of Jewish history, includes an account of the origins of Purim in its chapter 4. It too follows the original biblical account and includes additional traditions matching those found in the Greek version and Josephus (whom the author claims as a source) with the exception of the details of the letters found in the latter works. It also provides other contextual information relating to Jewish and Persian history such as the identification of Darius the Mede as the uncle and father-in-law of Cyrus.


title: Purim

text: A brief Persian account of events is provided by Islamic historian Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari in his "History of the Prophets and Kings" (completed 915 CE). Basing his account on Jewish and Christian sources, al-Tabari provides additional details such as the original Persian form "Asturya" for "Esther". He places events during the rule of Ardashir Bahman (Artaxerxes II), but confuses him with Ardashir al-Tawil al-Ba (Artaxerxes I), while assuming Ahasuerus to be the name of a co-ruler. Another brief Persian account is recorded by Masudi in "The Meadows of Gold" (completed 947 CE). He refers to a Jewish woman who had married the Persian King Bahman (Artaxerxes II), and delivered her people, thus corroborating this identification of Ahasuerus. He also mentions the woman's daughter, Khumay, who is not known in Jewish tradition but is well remembered in Persian folklore. Al-Tabari calls her "Khumani" and tells how her father (Ardashir Bahman) married her. Ferdowsi in his "Shahnameh" ( CE) also tells of King Bahman marrying Khumay.


title: Purim

text: Some historians of the Near East and Persia argue that Purim does not actually have a historical basis. Amnon Netzer and Shaul Shaked argue that the names "Mordecai" and "Esther" are similar to those of the Babylonian gods Marduk and Ishtar. Scholars W.S. McCullough, Muhammad Dandamayev and Shaul Shaked say that the Book of Esther is historical fiction. Amélie Kuhrt says the Book of Esther was composed in the Hellenistic period and it shows a perspective of Persian court identical to classical Greek books. Shaul Shaked says the date of composition of the book is unknown, but most likely not much after the fall of the Achaemenid kingdom, during the Parthian period, perhaps in the 3rd or 2nd century BCE. McCullough also suggests that Herodotus recorded the name of Xerxes's queen as Amestris (the daughter of Otanes) and not as Esther. Scholars Albert I. Baumgarten and S. David Sperling and R.J. Littman say that, according to Herodotus, Xerxes could only marry a daughter of one of the six allies of his father Darius I.


title: Purim

text: Purim has more of a national than a religious character, and its status as a holiday is on a different level from those days ordained holy by the Torah. Hallel is not recited. As such, according to some authorities, business transactions and even manual labor are allowed on Purim under certain circumstances. A special prayer ( – "For the Miracles") is inserted into the Amidah prayers during evening, morning and afternoon prayer services, and is also included in the ("Grace after Meals").


title: Purim

text: The first religious ceremony which is ordained for the celebration of Purim is the reading of the Book of Esther (the "Megillah") in the synagogue, a regulation which is ascribed in the Talmud (Megillah 2a) to the Sages of the Great Assembly, of which Mordecai is reported to have been a member. Originally this regulation was only supposed to be observed on the 14th of Adar; later, however, Rabbi Joshua ben Levi (3rd century CE) prescribed that the Megillah should also be read on the eve of Purim. Further, he obliged women to attend the reading of the Megillah, because women were also part of the miracle. The commentaries offer two reasons as to why women played a major role in the miracle. The first reason is that it was through a lady, Queen Esther, that the miraculous deliverance of the Jews was accomplished (Rashbam). The second reason is that women were also threatened by the genocidal decree and were therefore equal beneficiaries of the miracle (Tosafot).


title: Purim

text: In the Mishnah, the recitation of a benediction on the reading of the Megillah is not yet a universally recognized obligation. However, the Talmud, a later work, prescribed three benedictions before the reading and one benediction after the reading. The Talmud added other provisions. For example, the reader is to pronounce the names of the ten sons of Haman in one breath, to indicate their simultaneous death. An additional custom that probably began in Medieval times is that the congregation recites aloud with the reader the verses Esther 2:5, Esther 8:15–16, and Esther 10:3, which relate the origin of Mordecai and his triumph.


title: Purim

text: The Megillah is read with a cantillation (a traditional chant) which is different from that which is used in the customary reading of the Torah. Besides the traditional cantillation, there are several verses or short phrases in the Megillah that are chanted in a different chant, the chant that is traditionally used during the reading of the book of Lamentations. These verses are particularly sad, or they refer to Jews being in exile. When the Megillah reader jumps to the melody of the book of Lamentations for these phrases, it heightens the feeling of sadness in the listener.


title: Purim

text: In some places, the Megillah is not chanted, but is read like a letter, because of the name ("epistle"), which is applied to the Book of Esther. It has been also customary since the time of the early Medieval era of the Geonim to unroll the whole Megillah before reading it, in order to give it the appearance of an epistle. According to halakha (Jewish law), the Megillah may be read in any language intelligible to the audience.


title: Purim

text: According to the Mishnah (Megillah 30b), the story of the attack on the Jews by Amalek, the progenitor of Haman, is also to be read.


title: Purim

text: Before the reading of the Megillah on Purim, both at night and again in the morning, the reader of the Megillah recites the following three blessings and at the end of each blessing the congregation then responds by answering "Amen" after each of the blessings. At the morning reading of the Megillah the congregation should have in mind that the third blessing applies to the other observances of the day as well as to the reading of the Megillah:


title: Purim

text: After the Megillah reading, each member of the congregation who has heard the reading recites the following blessing. This blessing is not recited unless a was present for the Megillah reading:


title: Purim

text: The first one is an acrostic poem that starts with each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, starting with "Who balked () the counsel of the nations and annulled the counsel of the cunning. When a wicked man stood up against us (), a wantonly evil branch of Amalek's offspring ..." and ending with "The rose of Jacob () was cheerful and glad, when they jointly saw Mordechai robed in royal blue. You have been their eternal salvation (), and their hope throughout generations."


title: Purim

text: The rose of Jacob was cheerful and glad, when they jointly saw Mordechai robed in royal blue. You have been their eternal salvation, and their hope throughout generations.


title: Purim

text: Women have an obligation to hear the Megillah because "they also were involved in that miracle." Most Orthodox communities, including Modern Orthodox ones, however, generally do not allow women to lead the Megillah reading. Rabbinic authorities who hold that women should not read the Megillah for themselves, because of an uncertainty as to which blessing they should recite upon the reading, nonetheless agree that they have an obligation to hear it read. According to these authorities if women, or men for that matter, cannot attend the services in the synagogue, the Megillah should be read for them in private by any male over the age of thirteen. Often in Orthodox communities there is a special public reading only for women, conducted either in a private home or in a synagogue, but the Megillah is read by a man.


title: Purim

text: Some Modern Orthodox leaders have held that women can serve as public Megillah readers. Women's megillah readings have become increasingly common in more liberal Modern Orthodox Judaism, though women may only read for other women, according to Ashkenazi authorities.


title: Purim

text: When Haman's name is read out loud during the public chanting of the Megillah in the synagogue, which occurs 54 times, the congregation engages in noise-making to blot out his name. The practice can be traced back to the Tosafists (the leading French and German rabbis of the 13th century). In accordance with a passage in the Midrash, where the verse "Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek" is explained to mean "even from wood and stones." A custom developed of writing the name of Haman, the offspring of Amalek, on two smooth stones, and knocking them together until the name was blotted out. Some wrote the name of Haman on the soles of their shoes, and at the mention of the name stamped with their feet as a sign of contempt. Another method was to use a noisy ratchet, called a (from the Hebrew , meaning "noise") and in Yiddish a . Some of the rabbis protested against these uproarious excesses, considering them a disturbance of public worship, but the custom of using a ratchet in the synagogue on Purim is now almost universal, with the exception of Spanish and Portuguese Jews and other Sephardic Jews, who consider them an improper interruption of the reading.


title: Purim

text: The Book of Esther prescribes "the sending of portions one man to another, and gifts to the poor". According to halakha, each adult must give at least two different foods to one person, and at least two charitable donations to two poor people. The food parcels are called ("sending of portions"), and in some circles the custom has evolved into a major gift-giving event.


title: Purim

text: To fulfill the mitzvah of giving charity to two poor people, one can give either food or money equivalent to the amount of food that is eaten at a regular meal. It is better to spend more on charity than on the giving of . In the synagogue, regular collections of charity are made on the festival and the money is distributed among the needy. No distinction is made among the poor; anyone who is willing to accept charity is allowed to participate. It is obligatory for the poorest Jew, even one who is himself dependent on charity, to give to other poor people.


title: Purim

text: On Purim day, a festive meal called the is held. Fasting for non-medical reasons is prohibited on Purim.


title: Purim

text: There is a longstanding custom of drinking wine at the feast. The custom stems from a statement in the Talmud attributed to a rabbi named Rava that says one should drink on Purim until he can "no longer distinguish between ("Cursed is Haman") and ("Blessed is Mordecai")." The drinking of wine features prominently in keeping with the jovial nature of the feast, but also helps simulate the experience of spiritual blindness, wherein one cannot distinguish between good (Mordechai) and evil (Haman). This is based on the fact that the salvation of the Jews occurred through wine. Alcoholic consumption was later codified by the early authorities, and while some advocated total intoxication, others, consistent with the opinion of many early and later rabbis, taught that one should only drink a little more than usual and then fall asleep, whereupon one will certainly not be able to tell the difference between ("cursed be Haman") and ("blessed be Mordechai"). Other authorities, including the , have written that one should drink until one is unable to calculate the "gematria" (numerical values) of both phrases.


title: Purim

text: The Fast of Esther, observed before Purim, on the 13th of Adar, is an original part of the Purim celebration, referred to in Esther 9:31–32. The first who mentions the Fast of Esther is Rabbi Achai Gaon (Acha of Shabcha) (8th century CE) in She'iltot 4; the reason there given for its institution is based on an interpretation of , Esther 9:31 and Talmud Megillah 2a: "The 13th was the time of gathering", which gathering is explained to have had also the purpose of public prayer and fasting. Some, however, used to fast three days in commemoration of the fasting of Esther; but as fasting was prohibited during the month of Nisan, the first and second Mondays and the Thursday following Purim were chosen. The fast of the 13th is still commonly observed; but when that date falls on Sabbath, the fast is pushed forward to the preceding Thursday, Friday being needed to prepare for Sabbath and the following Purim festival.


title: Purim

text: It is common to greet one another on Purim in Hebrew with , in Yiddish with or in Ladino with . The Hebrew greeting loosely translates to "Happy Purim Holiday" and the Yiddish and Ladino translate to "Happy Purim".


title: Purim

text: The custom of masquerading in costumes and the wearing of masks probably originated among the Italian Jews at the end of the 15th century. The concept was possibly influenced by the Roman carnival and spread across Europe. The practice was only introduced into Middle Eastern countries during the 19th century. The first Jewish codifier to mention the custom was "Mahari Minz" (d. 1508 at Venice). While most authorities are concerned about the possible infringement of biblical law if men don women's apparel, others permit all forms of masquerades, because they are viewed as forms of merry-making. Some rabbis went as far as to allow the wearing of rabbinically-forbidden .


title: Purim

text: Other reasons given for the custom: It is a way of emulating God who "disguised" his presence behind the natural events which are described in the Purim story, and it has remained concealed (yet ever-present) in Jewish history since the destruction of the First Temple. Since charity is a central feature of the day, when givers and/or recipients disguise themselves this allows greater anonymity thus preserving the dignity of the recipient. Another reason for masquerading is that it alludes to the hidden aspect of the miracle of Purim, which was "disguised" by natural events but was really the work of the Almighty.


title: Purim

text: As early as the 5th century, there was a custom to burn an effigy of Haman on Purim. The spectacle aroused the wrath of the early Christians who interpreted the mocking and "execution" of the Haman effigy as a disguised attempt to re-enact the death of Jesus and ridicule the Christian faith. Prohibitions were issued against such displays under the reign of Flavius Augustus Honorius (395–423) and of Theodosius II (408–450). The custom was popular during the Geonic period (9th and 10th centuries), and a 14th century scholar described how people would ride through the streets of Provence holding fir branches and blowing trumpets around a puppet of Haman which was hanged and later burnt. The practice continued into the 20th century, with children treating Haman as a sort of "Guy Fawkes." In the early 1950s, the custom was still observed in Iran and some remote communities in Kurdistan where young Muslims would sometimes join in.


title: Purim

text: A Purim "spiel" (Purim play) is a comic dramatization that attempts to convey the saga of the Purim story. By the 18th century, in some parts of Eastern Europe, the Purim plays had evolved into broad-ranging satires with music and dance for which the story of Esther was little more than a pretext. Indeed, by the mid-19th century, some were even based on other biblical stories. Today, Purim spiels can revolve around anything relating to Jews, Judaism, or even community gossip that will bring cheer and comic relief to an audience celebrating the day.


title: Purim

text: Songs associated with Purim are based on sources that are Talmudic, liturgical and cultural. Traditional Purim songs include ("When [the Hebrew month of] Adar enters, we have a lot of joy"—Mishnah Taanith 4:1) and ("The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor"—Esther 8:16). The prayer is sung at the conclusion of the Megillah reading. A number of children's songs (with non-liturgical sources) also exist: "Once There Was a Wicked Wicked Man", , "Chag Purim, Chag Purim, Chag Gadol Hu LaYehudim", , , , , , , , , .


title: Purim

text: On Purim, Ashkenazi Jews and Israeli Jews (of both Ashkenazi and Sephardic descent) eat triangular pastries called hamantaschen ("Haman's pockets") or ("Haman's ears"). A sweet pastry dough is rolled out, cut into circles, and traditionally filled with a raspberry, apricot, date, or poppy seed filling. More recently, flavors such as chocolate have also gained favor, while non-traditional experiments such as pizza hamantaschen also exist. The pastry is then wrapped up into a triangular shape with the filling either hidden or showing. Among Sephardi Jews, a fried pastry called fazuelos is eaten, as well as a range of baked or fried pastries called Orejas de Haman (Haman's Ears) or Hojuelas de Haman.


title: Purim

text: Seeds, nuts, legumes and green vegetables are customarily eaten on Purim, as the Talmud relates that Queen Esther ate only these foodstuffs in the palace of Ahasuerus, since she had no access to kosher food.


title: Purim

text: Kreplach, a kind of dumpling filled with cooked meat, chicken or liver and served in soup, are traditionally served by Ashkenazi Jews on Purim. "Hiding" the meat inside the dumpling serves as another reminder of the story of Esther, the only book of Hebrew scriptures besides The Song of Songs that does not contain a single reference to God, who seems to hide behind the scenes.


title: Purim

text: Arany galuska, a dessert consisting of fried dough balls and vanilla custard, is traditional for Jews from Hungary and Romania, as well as their descendants.


title: Purim

text: Special breads are baked among various communities. In Moroccan Jewish communities, a Purim bread called "ojos de Haman" ("eyes of Haman") is sometimes baked in the shape of Haman's head, and the eyes, made of eggs, are plucked out to demonstrate the destruction of Haman.


title: Purim

text: Among Polish Jews, "koilitch", a raisin Purim challah that is baked in a long twisted ring and topped with small colorful candies, is meant to evoke the colorful nature of the holiday.


title: Purim

text: There is a widespread tradition to study the Torah in a synagogue on Purim morning, during an event called "Yeshivas Mordechai Hatzadik" to commemorate all the Jews who were inspired by Mordechai to learn Torah to overturn the evil decree against them. Children are especially encouraged to participate with prizes and sweets due to the fact that Mordechai taught many children Torah during this time.


title: Purim

text: Iranian Jews and Mountain Jews consider themselves descendants of Esther. On Purim, Iranian Jews visit the tombs of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan. Some women pray there in the belief that Esther can work miracles.


title: Purim

text: Shushan Purim falls on Adar 15 and is the day on which Jews in Jerusalem celebrate Purim. The day is also universally observed by omitting the Tachanun prayer and having a more elaborate meal than on ordinary days.


title: Purim

text: Purim is celebrated on Adar 14 because the Jews in unwalled cities fought their enemies on Adar 13 and rested the following day. However, in Shushan, the capital city of the Persian Empire, the Jews were involved in defeating their enemies on Adar 13–14 and rested on the 15th (Esther 9:20–22). In commemoration of this, it was decided that while the victory would be celebrated universally on Adar 14, for Jews living in Shushan, the holiday would be held on Adar 15. Later, in deference to Jerusalem, the Sages determined that Purim would be celebrated on Adar 15 in all cities which had been enclosed by a wall at the time of Joshua's conquest of the Land of Israel. This criterion allowed the city of Jerusalem to retain its importance for Jews, and although Shushan was not walled at the time of Joshua, it was made an exception since the miracle occurred there.


title: Purim

text: Today, there is debate as to whether outlying neighborhoods of Jerusalem are obliged to observe Purim on the 14th or 15th of Adar. Further doubts have arisen as to whether other cities were sufficiently walled in Joshua's era. It is therefore customary in certain towns including Hebron, Safed, Tiberias, Acre, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beersheva, Beit She'an, Beit Shemesh, Gaza, Gush Halav, Haifa, Jaffa, Lod, Ramlah and Shechem to celebrate Purim on the 14th and hold an additional "megillah" reading on the 15th with no blessings. In the diaspora, Jews in Baghdad, Damascus, Prague, and elsewhere celebrate Purim on the 14th and hold an additional "megillah" reading on the 15th with no blessings. Since today we are not sure where the walled cities from Joshua's time are, the only city that currently celebrates only Shushan Purim is Jerusalem; however, Rabbi Yoel Elizur has written that residents of Bet El and Mevo Horon should observe only the 15th, like Jerusalem.


title: Purim

text: Outside of Jerusalem, Hasidic Jews don their holiday clothing on Shushan Purim, and may attend a "tish", and even give "mishloach manot"; however, this is just a custom and not a religious obligation.


title: Purim

text: Purim Meshulash, or the three-fold Purim, is a somewhat rare calendric occurrence that affects how Purim is observed in Jerusalem (and, in theory at least, in other cities that were surrounded by a wall in ancient times).


title: Purim

text: When Shushan Purim (Adar 15) falls on the Sabbath, the holiday is celebrated over a period of three days. The "megilla" reading and distribution of charity takes place on the Friday (Adar 14), which day is called Purim dePrazos. The "Al ha-Nissim" prayer is only recited on Sabbath (Adar 15), which is Purim itself. The weekly Torah portion ("Tetzaveh" or "Ki Tissa" in regular years, "Tzav" in leap years) is read as usual, while the Torah portion for Purim is read for "maftir," and the "haftarah" is the same as read the previous Shabbat, Parshat Zachor. On Sunday (Adar 16), called Purim Meshullash, "mishloach manot" are sent and the festive Purim meal is held.


title: Purim

text: The minimum interval between occurrences of Purim Meshulash is three years (1974 to 1977; 2005 to 2008; will occur again 2045 to 2048). The maximum interval is 20 years (1954 to 1974; will occur again 2025 to 2045). Other possible intervals are four years (1977 to 1981; 2001 to 2005; 2021 to 2025; will occur again 2048 to 2052); seven years (1994 to 2001; will occur again 2123 to 2130); 13 years (1981 to 1994; 2008 to 2021; will occur again 2130 to 2143); and 17 years (1930 to 1947; will occur again 2275 to 2292).


title: Purim

text: During leap years on the Hebrew calendar, Purim is celebrated in the second month of Adar. (The Karaites, however, celebrate it in the first month of Adar.) The 14th of the first Adar is then called "Purim Katan" ("Little Purim" in Hebrew) and the 15th is "Shushan Purim Katan", for which there are no set observances but it has a minor holiday aspect to it. The distinctions between the first and the second Purim in leap years are mentioned in the Mishnah. Certain prayers like Tachanun, Eil Erech Apayim (when 15 Adar I is a Monday or Thursday) and Lam'nazteach (Psalm 20) are omitted during the service. When 15th Adar I is on Shabbat, "Av Harachamim" is omitted. When either 13th or 15th Adar I falls on Shabbat, "Tzidkas'cha" is omitted at Mincha. Fasting is prohibited.


title: Purim

text: Historically, many Jewish communities around the world established local "Purims" to commemorate their deliverance from catastrophe or an antisemitic ruler or edict. One of the best known is "Purim Vinz", traditionally celebrated in Frankfurt one week after the regular Purim. Purim Vinz commemorates the Fettmilch uprising (1616–1620), in which one Vincenz Fettmilch attempted to exterminate the Jewish community. According to some sources, the influential Rabbi Moses Sofer (the "Chasam Sofer"), who was born in Frankfurt, celebrated Purim Vintz every year, even when he served as a rabbi in Pressburg.


title: Purim

text: Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller (1579–1654) of Kraków, Poland, asked that his family henceforth celebrate a private Purim, marking the end of his many troubles, including having faced trumped-up charges. Since Purim is preceded by a fast day, the rabbi also directed his descendants to have a (private) fast day, the 5th day of Tamuz, marking one of his imprisonments (1629), this one lasting for 40 days.


title: Purim

text: The Jewish community of Hebron has celebrated two historic Purims, both from the Ottoman period. One is called Window Purim, or Purim Taka, in which the community was saved when a bag of money mysteriously appeared in a window, enabling them to pay off an extortion fee to the Ottoman Pasha. Many record the date being the 14th of the month, which corresponds the date of Purim on 14 Adar. The other was called The Purim of Ibrahim Pasha, in which the community was saved during a battle.


title: Purim

text: Other historic Purim celebrations in Jewish history have occurred in Yemen, Italy, Vilna and other locations.


title: Purim

text: Adolf Hitler banned and forbade the observance of Purim. In a speech made on 10 November 1938 (the day after Kristallnacht), the Nazi politician and prominent anti-Semite Julius Streicher surmised that just as "the Jew butchered 75,000 Persians" in one night, the same fate would have befallen the German people had the Jews succeeded in inciting a war against Germany; the "Jews would have instituted a new Purim festival in Germany".


title: Purim

text: Nazi attacks against Jews were often coordinated with Jewish festivals. On Purim 1942, ten Jews were hanged in Zduńska Wola to "avenge" the hanging of Haman's ten sons. In a similar incident in 1943, the Nazis shot ten Jews from the Piotrków ghetto. On Purim eve that same year, over 100 Jewish doctors and their families were shot by the Nazis in Częstochowa. The following day, Jewish doctors were taken from Radom and shot nearby in Szydłowiec. In 1942, on Purim, the Nazis murdered over 5000 Jews, mostly children, in the Minsk Ghetto. All of the victims were shot and buried alive by the Nazis.


title: Purim

text: In an apparent connection made by Hitler between his Nazi regime and the role of Haman, Hitler stated in a speech made on 30 January 1944, that if the Nazis were defeated, the Jews could celebrate "a second Purim". Indeed, Julius Streicher was heard to sarcastically remark "Purimfest 1946" as he ascended the scaffold after Nuremberg. According to Rabbi Mordechai Neugroschel, there is a code in the Book of Esther which lies in the names of Haman's 10 sons. Three of the Hebrew letters—a tav, a shin and a zayin—are written smaller than the rest, while a vav is written larger. The outsized vav—which represents the number six—corresponds to the sixth millennium of the world since creation, which, according to Jewish tradition, is the period between 1240 and 2240 CE. As for the tav, shin and zayin, their numerical values add up to 707. Put together, these letters refer to the Jewish year 5707, which corresponds to the secular 1946–1947. In his research, Neugroschel noticed that ten Nazi defendants in the Nuremberg Trials were executed by hanging on 16 October 1946, which was the date of the final judgement day of Judaism, Hoshana Rabbah. Additionally, Hermann Göring, an eleventh Nazi official sentenced to death, committed suicide, parallel to Haman's daughter in Tractate Megillah.


title: Purim

text: There is a tale in the Hasidic Chabad movement that supposedly Joseph Stalin died as a result of some metaphysical intervention of the seventh Chabad leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, during the recitation of a discourse at a public Purim farbrengen. Stalin was suddenly paralyzed on 1 March 1953, which corresponds to Purim 1953, and died four days later. Due to Stalin's death, nationwide pogroms against Jews throughout the Soviet Union were averted, as Stalin's infamous doctors' plot was halted.


title: Purim

text: The Cave of the Patriarchs massacre took place during Purim of 1994. The Dizengoff Center suicide bombing took place on the eve of Purim killing 13 on 4 March 1996.


title: Purim

text: The 1960 20th Century-Fox film "Esther and the King" stars Joan Collins as Esther and Richard Egan as Ahasuerus. It was filmed in Italy by director Raoul Walsh. The 2006 movie "One Night with the King" chronicles the life of the young Jewish girl, Hadassah, who goes on to become the Biblical Esther, the Queen of Persia, and saves the Jewish nation from annihilation at the hands of its arch enemy while winning the heart of the fiercely handsome King Xerxes.


title: Purim

text: The 2006 comedy film "For Your Consideration" employs a film-within-a-film device in which the fictitious film being produced is titled "Home for Purim", and is about a Southern Jewish family's Purim celebration. However, once the film receives Oscar buzz, studio executives feel it is "too Jewish" and force the film to be renamed "Home for Thanksgiving."


title: Arlo Guthrie

text: Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Guthrie's best-known work is his debut piece, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree", a satirical talking blues song about 18 minutes in length that has since become a Thanksgiving anthem. His only top-40 hit was a cover of Steve Goodman's "City of New Orleans". His song "Massachusetts" was named the official folk song of the state, in which he has lived most of his adult life. Guthrie has also made several acting appearances. He is the father of four children, who have also had careers as musicians.


title: Arlo Guthrie

text: Guthrie was born in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, the son of the folk singer and composer Woody Guthrie and dancer Marjorie Mazia Guthrie. He is the fifth, and oldest surviving, of Woody Guthrie's eight children; two older half-sisters died of Huntington's disease (of which Woody also died in 1967), an older half-brother died in a train accident, another half sister died in a car accident, and a fourth sister died in childhood. His sister is the record producer Nora Guthrie. His mother was a professional dancer with the Martha Graham Company and founder of what is now the Huntington's Disease Society of America. Arlo's father was from a Protestant family and his mother was Jewish. His maternal grandmother was Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt, and country/western singer Jack Guthrie, who died when Arlo was an infant, was Arlo's cousin once removed.


title: Arlo Guthrie

text: Guthrie received religious training for his bar mitzvah from Rabbi Meir Kahane, who formed the Jewish Defense League. "Rabbi Kahane was a really nice, patient teacher," Guthrie later recalled, "but shortly after he started giving me my lessons, he started going haywire. Maybe I was responsible." Guthrie converted to Catholicism in 1977, before embracing interfaith beliefs later in his life. "I firmly believe that different religious traditions can reside in one person, or one nation or even one world," Guthrie said in 2015. In 2020, following his retirement, Guthrie expressed a philosophical affinity for gospel music, noting: "Gospel music to me is the biggest genre of protest music. If this world ain’t doing it for you, and your hopes are in the next one you can't get more protest than that."


title: Arlo Guthrie

text: Guthrie attended Woodward School in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, from first through eighth grades and later graduated from the Stockbridge School, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1965. He spent the summer of 1965 in London, eventually meeting Karl Dallas, who connected Guthrie with London's folk rock scene and became a lifelong friend of his. He briefly attended Rocky Mountain College, in Billings, Montana. He received an honorary doctorate from Siena College in 1981 and from Westfield State College in 2008.


title: Arlo Guthrie

text: As a singer, songwriter and lifelong political activist, Guthrie carries on the legacy of his father. He was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience award on September 26, 1992.


title: Arlo Guthrie

text: On November 26, 1965, while in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, during Thanksgiving break from his brief stint in college, 18-year-old Guthrie and his friend, Richard Robbins, were arrested for illegally dumping on private property what Guthrie described as "a half-ton of garbage" from the home of his friends, teachers Ray and Alice Brock, after he discovered the local landfill was closed for the holiday. Guthrie and Robbins appeared in court, pled guilty to the charges, were levied a nominal fine and picked up the garbage that weekend.


title: Arlo Guthrie

text: This littering charge served as the basis for Guthrie's most famous work, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree", a talking blues song that runs 18 minutes and 34 seconds in its original recorded version. In 1997, Guthrie jokingly pointed out that this was also the exact length of one of the infamous gaps in President Richard Nixon's Watergate tapes, and that Nixon owned a copy of the record. The Alice in the song is Alice Brock, who had been a librarian at Arlo's boarding school in the town before opening her restaurant. She later opened an art studio in Provincetown, Massachusetts.


title: Arlo Guthrie

text: The song lampoons the Vietnam War draft. However, Guthrie has stated in multiple interviews that the song is more an "anti-stupidity" song than an anti-war song, adding that it is based on a true incident. In the song, Guthrie is called up for a draft examination and rejected as unfit for military service as a result of a criminal record consisting solely of one conviction for the aforementioned littering. Alice and her restaurant are the subjects of the refrain, but are generally mentioned only incidentally in the story (early drafts of the song explained that the restaurant was a place to hide from the police). Though her presence is implied at certain points in the story, Alice herself is described explicitly in the tale only briefly when she bails Guthrie and a friend out of jail. On the DVD commentary for the 1969 movie, Guthrie stated that the events presented in the song all actually happened (others, such as the arresting officer, William Obanhein, disputed some of the song's details, but generally verified the truth of the overall story).


title: Arlo Guthrie

text: "Alice's Restaurant" was the song that earned Guthrie his first recording contract, after counterculture radio host Bob Fass began playing a tape recording of one of Guthrie's live performances of the song repeatedly one night in 1967. A performance at the Newport Folk Festival on July 17, 1967, was also very well received. Soon afterward, Guthrie recorded the song in front of a studio audience in New York City and released it as side one of the album, "Alice's Restaurant". By the end of the decade, Guthrie had gone from playing coffee houses and small venues to playing massive and prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Woodstock Festival.


title: Arlo Guthrie

text: For a short period after its release in October 1967, "Alice's Restaurant" was heavily played on U.S. college and counterculture radio stations. It became a symbol of the late 1960s, and for many it defined an attitude and lifestyle that were lived out across the country in the ensuing years. Its leisurely finger-picking acoustic guitar and rambling lyrics were widely memorized and played by irreverent youth. Many stations in the United States have a Thanksgiving Day tradition of playing "Alice's Restaurant".