Jewish Themed Costumes for Purim and Halloween
Why Dress up on Purim?
Purim is sort of a combination of holiday. It is a combination of Thanksgiving (a large evening meal), Easter (we send baskets of food to friends) and Halloween (we dress in costumes because G-d's presence in the Book of Esther is hidden -- G-d hid his "face" from us) . Purim is a really fun holiday. Kids enjoy the costumes, and making noise with gragers (noisemakers) when the name of Haman, the villain of the story, is mentioned during the reading of the book of Esther.
The story in Book of Esther is fascinating and full of palace intrigue, unexpected twists and turns, a descendant of an old enemy of the Jews. The Book of Esther doesn't have the name of G-d in it, though the commentaries say that whenever it says "the King" it means G-d.
Home Made Purim Costumes
Anyone can buy a costume on line or at a costume store. But making your own is more creative (and cheaper). I used to dress as Zorro -- I wore black leggings, a lace-up black shirt, a mask from the dollar store, black ankle boots, a hand made cape (made from a hemmed piece of black satin with a ribbon tie to go around my neck), a dollar store plastic sword in scabbard, and a home made whip (braided rope attached to a paper tube covered by black electrical tape).
Click on the picture of Queen Esther to connect to an on-line article about creating your own costumes.
Purim or Halloween?
Do you dress up for Purim or Halloween or both?
Compugraph Designs Jewelry Designs on Facebook
This is one of the Jewish themed Jewelry designs from Compugraph Designs. Click on the picture to link to Compugraph Designs' Jewelry page on Facebook. (This piece is acrylic on a brass chain with a magnetic closure.)