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Celebrating Purim in Israel

Ultra-Orthodox Jews read the Esther scrolls at a synagogue in the Israeli town of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv on March 7, 2012 during celebrations of the Purim holiday. The carnival-like Purim holiday is celebrated from the evening of March 7  with parades and costume parties to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to exterminate them in the ancient Persian empire 2,500 years ago, as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther.  AFP PHOTO/MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)
Ultra-Orthodox Jews read the Esther scrolls at a synagogue in the Israeli town of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv on March 7, 2012 during celebrations of the Purim holiday. The carnival-like Purim holiday is celebrated from the evening of March 7 with parades and costume parties to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to exterminate them in the ancient Persian empire 2,500 years ago, as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther. AFP PHOTO/MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP - Getty Images

Purim, a carnival-like holiday, celebrates Jewish identity and the salvation of the Jews from a plot to exterminate them from the ancient Persian Empire 2,500 years ago. The holiday is celebrated with parades, costume parties and readings from the Biblical Book of Esther.

A time-honored custom is to dress in costume, as a way of honoring God who disguised his presence behind the natural events described in the story of Purim.

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