A Purim spiel (also spelled Purimshpil, yi, פּורימשפּיל, , see also

spiel Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, often called the Essen Game Fair after the city where it is held, is an annual four-day boardgame trade fair which is also open to the public held in October (Thursday to the following Sunday) at the Messe Essen e ...

) or Purim play is an ensemble of festive practices for

Purim 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 ...

. It is usually a comic dramatization of the Book of Esther, the central text and narrative that describes what transpired on Purim and why it is celebrated as an important

Jewish holiday Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...

History

The Purim spiel is considered the "only genuine folk theater that has survived a thousand years in European culture." Integrating texts, theater, music, dance, songs, mimes, and costumes, the Purim spiel is considered to be the origin of

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revu ...

. The descriptive term "Purim spiel" became widely used among

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

as early as the mid-1500s. By the 18th century in eastern

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

and some other parts of Eastern Europe, Purim spiels had evolved into broad-ranging satires with music and dance, for which the story of Esther was little more than a pretext. Since satire was deemed inappropriate for a synagogue, these events were usually performed outdoors in the synagogue courtyard. By the mid-19th century, some routines were based on other stories, such as

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

sold by his brothers, Daniel, or the

Binding of Isaac The Binding of Isaac ( he, , ), or simply "The Binding" (, ), is a story from Genesis 22 of the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah. As Abraham begins to comply, having bound Isa ...

. Other traditional forms of Purim spiel have included

puppet show Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performan ...

s for children, reenacting the Purim story with the Purim characters performing comic antics. In 2015, the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visua ...

added the Purim spiel to its Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of France.

Modern practice

Purim spiels are performed annually in many American synagogues, and in Jewish communities in much of Europe. In France, for example, Purim plays continue to be widely performed in active Ashkenazi communities. In many modern-day synagogues, a Purim spiel is an informal theatrical production with costumed participants, often including children. Typically, each congregation writes its own new Purim spiel every year, or acquires a new script from elsewhere. Purim spiels often include parodies of popular songs or well-known musicals. Purim spiels are often used to satirically address modern social and political issues through the biblical narrative, "using the ancient story to poke fun at current reality."

History

Modern practice

See also

References

Further reading