Happy Purim

This week has been so busy for me with all the pre-Purim tastings, I’ve been working every night past 10pm.  Purim is time to celebrate with friends and family and to drink lots and lots of alcohol.  Customers who come into wine stores are usually in a good mood, but this week everyone has been extra happy.  People are buying wines by the cases, so I guess it’s a good week to be an owner of liquor store.  I love watching the women come into the liquor store trying to match the little bottles with their theme.  One was dressing her daughter in a panda costume, giving out black & white cookies and needed black and white bottles.  Another had a red/strawberry or raspberry theme.  Another was putting bottles into a rubber ducky and needed orange bottles.    

I guess I should explain Purim to those who don’t really know about it.  The short explanation is that it’s the Jewish Halloween.  The historical explanation is that an evil man named Haman who was the advisor to the King of Persia hated the Jewish people and conspired to kill them all.  The king’s wife, Esther was secretly Jewish and came to him to safe him.  The king loved her and ended up killing Haman instead.  It is now the Jewish tradition on Purim to dress up in costumes, hold carnivals, eat, drink and be merry. According to the Talmud, a person is required to drink until he cannot tell the difference between "cursed be Haman" and "blessed be Mordecai(Esther’s uncle)," and send out gifts of food or drink.  Here is a link with a longer explanation, http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday9.htm