The Feast of Lots: Seattle's Jewish Community Celebrates Purim with an Auction of Sacred Letters

Yesterday the Jews of this city, in common with their fellows the world over, celebrated the festival called Purim, or the feast of the casting of lots. The festival is based on the account given in the book of Esther, and commemorates the saving of the Jews from the order of destruction issued by Ahasuerus, king of Persia, to his prime minister Haman. The story is told in the book of Esther how the niece of Mordecai pleaded for the Jews after the discovery of the plot against the king's life and how Haman was hanged on the gallows he himself had built.

The history of the festival was related yesterday afternoon at the meeting of the Montefiore Society, where Otto S. Grunbaum read an essay on the holiday, giving the story of its origin. The festival, he said, was called the 'Feast of Lots,' probably in irony by Haman, because he had cast lots to see on what day the destruction of the Jews should take place. The custom was, on the 14th and 15th of Adar, corresponding to the last of February and the beginning of March, to celebrate the festival. On the night of the 14th the Megillah, or the book of Esther, is read, and when the name of Haman is mentioned all call out 'May his name be cursed,' and in some countries the small boys make a great noise with mallets and other instruments on which they have written the name Haman, which they strive to obliterate. Whenever the reader comes to the names of Haman's ten sons he calls them off in a single breath as one, to show that all were executed at the same time. There is also a practice of making gifts, principally foods, but this has not become common in America.

In his essay Mr. Grunbaum said: 'It would seem that the Jews were led to associate the Christians with the Persians and Amalekites in the service of the synagogue. Hence probably arose the popularity of the feast of Purim in these ages in which the feeling of enmity was so strongly manifested between Jews and Christians. Several Jewish proverbs are preserved which strikingly show the way in which Purim was regarded, such as "The temple may fall, but Purim never;" "The prophets may fall, but not Megillah." This affection for the book and the festival connected with it is the more remarkable because the events on which they are founded affected only an exiled portion of the Hebrew race, and because there was so much in them to shock the principles and prejudices of the Jewish mind.'

The orthodox congregation began the celebration of the feast last Thursday evening in the Hinckley block, when the book of Esther was read by Rabbi H. Genas. The services were continued yesterday at 4 o'clock p.m., when the rabbi conducted the dedication of the new holy scroll, comprising the five books of the Pentateuch written in Hebrew. In his address he pointed out the necessity of following the law, and of transmitting to the children a love and veneration for that law. He showed the inconsistency of following the teachings of the modern Jewish pulpit, which referred the responsibilities of a man almost entirely to his own conscience, saying it was very well for the individual, but if the practice should become general the law of Moses would soon be a dead letter. The object, he said, of observing so strictly the letter of the law was to transmit it to posterity.

The rabbi's address was delivered in Hebrew, after which an address in English was given by Abe Spring for the benefit of a portion of the congregation who could not understand the mother tongue. Mr. Spring feelingly referred to the observance of Purim a year ago when Mr. Frederic J. Grant had been an interested spectator. Addresses were also made by Morris M. Frederick and M. Grunbaum.

In connection with the celebration refreshments were served, and in the evening a social dance was given. The most interesting feature was the auctioning of the letters of the holy scroll. The rabbinical law provides that every man shall write the entire Pentateuch, but as this would be an impossibility in many cases a means of fulfilling the law has been found by the sale of the letters. The custom is for the auctioneer to call out the letter, and the congregation to bid upon it, each member usually choosing the initial of his own name. The bids run up to $1.13 and the money obtained is put into a fund for the education of the youth. In this way the law is fulfilled, and a good sum is realized for a charitable purpose.

After dedication, the holy scroll is preserved in an elaborate casement made especially for that purpose. The Pentateuch has not been reproduced in modern type for the use of the rabbi or congregation, and the law is ascertained from the holy scroll itself.