Purim

Additional joy serves as an expression of appreciation toward the Almighty for the miracles He performed on our behalf.

But can we be commanded to be happy? Is happiness a state of mind that is divinely imposed upon us - with or without our consent - or is there some secret to attaining this gift of joy?

The knowledge that there exists a small and minor Purim is itself a heartening message. Good tidings do not always burst upon the scene suddenly.

When the fifteenth falls out on Shabbat, Purim in that year is called Purim Ha-meshulash (“Triple Purim”), because its mitzvot are divided over three days.

Since Purim is celebrated in unwalled cities on the fourteenth and in walled cities on the fifteenth, many questions arise regarding one who travels from an unwalled city to Jerusalem, or vice versa.

Most uncertain places today rely on the lenient opinion and celebrate Purim exclusively on the fourteenth. Only in places where the likelihood that it was truly a walled city is greater, like in Tiberias and Hebron, do many people customarily read the Megilla on the fifteenth as well.

Most places celebrate on the fourteenth of Adar, whereas Shushan, along with cities that were surrounded by walls at the time of Yehoshua bin Nun, celebrate on the fifteenth of Adar.

The Sages said: “A walled city and all that adjoins it and all that is visible with it are reckoned as a walled city” Therefore, not only do the residents of the Old City of Jerusalem celebrate Purim on the fifteenth of Adar, but so do the residents of all the neighborhoods adjacent to the Old City.

Many people customarily wear masks and costumes on Purim. Even though there is no source for this in the writings of the Sages, and the Aĥaronim did not write that one must wear costumes, various reasons have been given for the custom.