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 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 ...
. It is usually a
comic
a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
dramatization of the
Book of Esther
The Book of Esther ( he, מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר, Megillat Esther), also known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the wikt:מגילה, Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Judaism, Jewish ''Tanak ...
, 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 revues ...
.[ 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 Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
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
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 ...
, 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
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...
, 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 Isaa ...
. 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 (visual, ...
added the Purim spiel to its Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. Int ...
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."
See also
* ', a 1965 Israeli musical in Yiddish based on the 1936 book ''Songs of the Megillah'' by Itzik Manger
Itzik Manger (30 May 1901, Czernowitz, then Austrian-Hungarian Empire – 21 February 1969, Gedera, Israel; yi, איציק מאַנגער) was a prominent Yiddish language, Yiddish poet and playwright, a self-proclaimed folk bard, visionary, a ...
* Purim humor
Purim humor, Purim jokes, and Purim pranks are elements of joyful celebration of the holiday of Purim."Purim Pranks" Yeshivat Har Etzion Purim spiels may include a good deal of insults and foul language directed both at biblical characters and ...
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purim spiel
Jewish comedy and humor
Purim
Folk plays
Yiddish words and phrases