Among the many holidays in the Jewish religious calendar, Purim perhaps the most wildly jubilant. It is celebrated with lively festivities, pageantry, costumes, and even religiously enjoined drunkenness. On this holiday Jews are supposed to hear the Book of Esther, give donations to the poor, exchange gifts with friends, and feast. During recitations of the story of Esther, when the name of the evil Haman is mentioned, Jews shake special rattles to blot out his name.
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