Happy Purim 2016 (5776)!

Last year, I wrote "I don't celebrate Purim anywhere else but on this blog, but I'm all in favor of fun holidays and this one certainly qualifies.  Happy Purim!"  On that note, I'm sharing International Business Times' What Is Purim 2016? Everything You Should Know About Celebratory Jewish Holiday.

Purim has just about arrived. The date is among the most joyous celebrations in the Jewish calendar, as it celebrates the survival of the Jewish community against an ancient Persian Empire plot to annihilate it. Purim is celebrated on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, which falls on a Wednesday this year. It begins in the evening and runs until sunset Thursday.

Although Jews began marking the date in the first century, it grew into a popular holiday during the Middle Ages. Today, it is celebrated with food and treats, dancing, festivals and costumes. So what’s the holiday all about, and how is it celebrated? Here’s a handy guide to help answer that question.

Click on the link to read more about the event in history the holiday commemorates and how the holiday is celebrated.

Unfortunately, not all will be celebrating it, as the Sofia Globe reports Jewish community in Brussels cancels Purim events after terrorist attacks.

The Jewish community of Brussels had prepared two major events for this week on the occasion of the Purim holiday celebrations but both events have been cancelled following the March 22 terror attacks in Brussels.
...
“There are grave concerns among Belgium’s Jews following the terrorist attacks that targeted Brussels’ airport and a metro station in the Belgian capital on Tuesday killing more than 30 people and injuring 230, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Director of the European Jewish Association (EJA) and head of the Rabbinical Center of Europe (RCE), said according to a report by the European Jewish Press.

“The Jewish community here in Brussels and in Europe in general is not surprised,” he said.“We’ve been receiving alerts for a long time now. Despite the shock the city experienced, we were not surprised. Of course, we feel the concern and the pressure, but we were really not surprised by everything that’s going on in the city. It was only a matter of time before such an attack happened.’’

“We always knew about warnings, we knew where we were living. We hope that this wave will end as soon as possible so that it won’t harm the Purim holiday,” he said.

I wrote this entry so that I could postpone posting an entry about the terrorist attacks by Daesh AKA the Sith Jihad on Brussels by focusing on something happy, but I couldn't avoid the news even on this topic.  Sigh.

That written, Purim isn't canceled here, so Happy Purim!