A grager ( yi, גראַגער, 'rattler'), also gragger, grogger or gregger, is a noisemaking device, most commonly a
ratchet
Ratchet may refer to:
Devices
* Ratchet (device), a mechanical device that allows movement in only one direction
* Ratchet, metonomic name for a socket wrench incorporating a ratcheting device
* Ratchet (instrument), a music instrument and a ...
, used to make noise by the congregation when the name of
Haman
Haman ( ; also known as Haman the Agagite or Haman the evil) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Persian empire under King Ahasuerus, commonly identified as Xerxes I ...
is read out during the recitation of the ''
Megillah
Megillah ( he, מגילה, scroll) may refer to:
Bible
*The Book of Esther (''Megillat Esther''), read on the Jewish holiday of Purim
*The Five Megillot
*Megillat Antiochus
Rabbinic literature
*Tractate Megillah in the Talmud.
*Megillat Taanit, ...
'' in the
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
during the celebration of
Purim
Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jews, 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 Boo ...
in order to blot out Haman's name. This is done in accordance with the passage in the
Midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
which commented that the verse from
Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...
"Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of
Amalek
Amalek (; he, עֲמָלֵק, , ar, عماليق ) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or the ...
" must be understood "even from wood and stones". Traditionally Haman is believed to be an offspring of Amalek, and a tradition had developed to write the name of Haman on stones and to knock them until the name is blotted out.
[An excerpt related to groger](_blank)
from:
A number of prominent rabbis, including
Sefardi
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
chief rabbis of Jerusalem,
Raphael Meir Panigel
Raphael Meir ben Yehuda Panigel (1804–1893) was the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Ottoman Empire.
Panigel was born in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria, but his family emigrated to the Land of Israel when he was a child. In 1828 and in 1863, he was a ...
, and of Izmir,
Haim Palachi
Haim Palachi ( he, חיים פלאג'י yi, חיים פאלאדזשי; Acronym: MaHaRHaF or HaVIF) (January 28, 1788– February 10, 1868)
was a Jewish- Turkish chief rabbi of Smyrna (İzmir) and author in Ladino
and Hebrew. His titles include ...
, protested against the noisemaking tradition, considering it an improper disturbance obstructing the reciting of the Megillah.
Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf suggests that any noisemaker will do: "alarm clocks, toddler xylophones, dolls that cry with the push of a button, a toy police car with siren and flashing lights or anything else that will make a wonderfully annoying noise".
[
]Eliezer Ben-Yehuda
Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda ( he, אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֵּן־יְהוּדָה}; ; born Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman, 7 January 1858 – 16 December 1922) was a Russian–Jewish linguist, grammarian, and journalist, renowned as the lexicographer of ...
initially suggested the word he, מנענע, 'shaker', for the Purim noisemaker, but under the influence of Yiddish the term he, רעשן for rattler (from the Hebrew , meaning 'noise', suggested by Ben Yehuda's son, Itamar Ben-Avi
Itamar Ben-Avi (; []; 31 July 1882 – 8 April 1943) was the first native speaker of modern Hebrew, Hebrew in modern times. He was a journalist and Zionism, Zionist activist.
Biography
Itamar Ben-Avi was born as Ben-Zion Ben-Yehuda in Jerusalem ...
) was accepted.
Gallery
See also
*Yimakh shemo
( he, יִמַּח שְׁמוֹ, yīmmaḥ šəmō, may his name be erased) is a Hebrew curse placed after the name of particular enemies of the Jewish people. A variant is ( he, יִמַּח שְׁמוֹ וְזִכְרוֹ, yīmmaḥ šəmō v ...
("May his name be erased")
*Crotalus
''Crotalus'' is a genus of venomous pit vipers in the family Viperidae, known as rattlesnakes or rattlers.Albert Hazen WWright AH, Wright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing ...
, a similar object used by Catholics during the Paschal Triduum
References
{{reflist
Purim
Traditional toys
Toy instruments and noisemakers