Sunday, February 28 · 2 - 4 PM
Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit
An Extra Holiday
Esther Allweiss Ingber
Contributing Writer
T
wo Purim holidays in one
season? How lucky can one
Jewish people get!
Approximately every two to three
years, the lunar-based Hebrew cal-
endar includes an extra month of
Adar — making it Adar 1 and Adar
II — to keep time on course. This
being the Hebrew calendar leap year,
Jews are getting an extra semi-festive
holiday called Purim Katan (Little
Purim) to enjoy next week, with the
even more festive Purim beginning at
sundown on March 23.
According to the Gregorian (solar-
based) calendar, Purim Katan begins
at sundown on Monday, Feb. 22.
That corresponds to 14 Adar I on the
Hebrew calendar for 5776. Mordechai
and Queen Esther of Persia estab-
lished Purim as a day of feasting and
rejoicing in commemoration of the
Jews’ deliverance from Haman’s evil
death decree in 356 B.C.E.
By talmudic tradition, Purim is
celebrated in the second Adar. That is
because the rabbis wanted to “bring
the period of the redemption of
Esther closer to that of the redemp-
tion of the Israelites from Egypt
celebrated in the following month
of Nisan,” according to the Jewish
Virtual Library.
Therefore, Purim Katan is cel-
ebrated on 14 Adar I because that’s
the date that would have been Purim
if it hadn’t fallen during a leap year.
Clear?
No one reads the Megillah (Scroll
of Esther) or sends food portions to
friends or gifts to the poor on Purim
Katan. Yet the Shulchan Aruch, the
codification of Torah law providing a
basic guide to Jewish life, encourages
an increase in festivity and joy on the
holiday, even without a halachic obli-
gation to do so.
Have a happy Purim Katan!
*
Celebrate Purim Katan
5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23. Isaac
Agree Downtown Synagogue in
De troit invites everyone to fight off
the February doldrums at its wine
and cheese celebration of Purim
Katan. For information or to RSVP,
call IADS at (313) 962-4047.
5GWPKVGYKVJ[QWTHTKGPFU GPLQ[CHWPæNNGFCHVGTPQQP
- DJ and dancing
- Photo booth
- Foosball, video games & more!
- Interested families learn about Tamarack Camps
and meet the Camp Maas Directors 1 -2 pm
For more information visit
tamarackcamps.com/2016winterwarmup
2075300
SAVE THE DATE
Sunday, May 15, 2016
87 DAYS AND COUNTING…
WWW .W ALK F OR I SRAEL . ORG
Walk for Israel is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization, federal tax ID # 45-3546279.
Design Donated by:
2075310
February 18 • 2016
37