Reclaiming Purim

This month, our Persian Jewish community will come together to celebrate two of our most significant holidays — Purim and Nowruz. In vibrant gatherings, we'll honor Purim as a powerful story of survival and renewal, and Nowruz as the arrival of spring.

As Persian Jews in the diaspora, celebrating a new year has always felt natural — we dive into three, each one rich with its own meaning and rituals. For Nowruz, we set an intricate haft seen table, leap over bonfires, and reflect through poetry. Yet Purim, as a Persian holiday, often gets lost.

Growing up, many of us didn't see Purim as our story. We dressed in costumes, booed Haman, ate Eastern European triangle treats. But we didn't always recognize the Persianness — Queen Esther or Shushan — as ours, more readily identifying with Nowruz (or even Aladdin) than with these powerful figures in our own ancestry.

In an episode of Persian Girl Podcast, my dear friends Millie and Maxine imagine how we'd have been raised owning Queen Esther — embracing Purim as a holiday that's not just Jewish, but uniquely Persian Jewish. Let's celebrate Purim with newfound intention and pride. Vibrantly, meaningfully, fully.

Sandy Irani
Our Mizrahi community creator