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DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE... JEWISH and CHRISTIAN LITURGICAL CALENDARS (FOR 2020–2021 Jewish Year 5781–5782) ENGLISH VERSION CALENDÁRIO LITÚRGICO JUDAICO—CRISTÃO A VERSÃO EM PORTUGUÊS (DO BRASIL) Weekly Readings for Christians and Jews this 16 month interfaith calendar covers Jewish Year 5781 & Christian Cycle: Advent 2020–Advent 2021...

25 FEBRUARY 2021 | ADAR 13 TA'ANIT ESTHER תַּעֲנִית אֶסְתֵּר תענית = "fast" ;  אסתר = Esther Ta'anit Esther [trans. Fast of Esther] observed on the 13th day of Adar, the day preceding Purim, commemorates the three day fast observed by Queen Esther and the Jewish people prior to Esther pleading the cause of the Jews before King Ahasuerus [when threatened with death by the evil Haman.] The Fast of Esther is followed by the celebratory festival of Purim. Ta'anit Esther is a fast which appears to be of late origin being mentioned in halakhic literature only in the 8th Century. Rabbinic notes suggest the fast was at one time held in Nisan soon after the time when Haman cast lots. Ta'anit Esther is a counterbalance in Rabbinic literature to the celebratory nature of the holiday of Purim.

26 FEBRUARY 2021 | ADAR 14 PURIM Purim celebrates the miracle of the deliverance frompersecution and suffering wrought for the Jewish people in Persia. The story is told in the Book of Esther (Megillat Esther) c. 4th Cent. BCE. Purim is celebrated on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar. [In leap years (i.e. this year) Purim falls in Adar II.] Traditionally, the date of Purim marks the first day following the victory/deliverance of the Jews in Persia. "They [the Jews in the provinces] rested on the fourteenth day and made it a day offeasting and merry making" (Esther 9:17) In cities that were surrounded by a wall in the time of Joshua Purim is celebrated on the 15th day of Adar, also called Shushan Purim. The story of Purim which is recounted in the Hebrew Bible, in the Megillat Esther [Scroll of Esther], dates from the 4th Century BCE. [Megillat Esther is the last of the canonical texts to be determined for inclusion in the Tanakh.] The Talmud attributes the account given in Megillat Esther to a redaction of an original text written by Mordechai (Baba Bathra 15a). The Book of Esther in the Septuagint [Greek Bible] differs from Megillat Esther and is understood as an interpretive adaptation. The Greek Esther (c. 2nd Century BCE) adds additional traditions, e.g., Ahasuerus is identified with Artaxerxes. Jerome's Latin text [Vulgate] of the Book of Esther is a translation of the Hebrew text with additions based upon the Greek version. Read more...