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The story of Purim is told in the Biblical book of Esther.

It's a thriller — involving a beautiful heroine (Esther), the King of Persia (King Achashverosh) and his evil advisor, Haman -- and features a Jewish extermination plot, lots of seat-of-your-pants intrigue, and a surprise ending as Esther saves the day!

Jewish children the world over continue to commemorate the day by donning masks and dressing up in costumes to play King Ahashverosh, Queen Esther, Mordechai, and the evil Haman. Today, kids may appear at Purim in many other guises, as well, from pirates and princesses to robots and rabbis!

Even with more modern innovations, traditional graggers (or noisemakers used to drown out Haman's name during the reading of the book of Esther), still remain must-haves for Purim.

In 2010, Purim occurs in the Jewish Year 5769 and begins at sunset on Saturday, February 27th and ends at sunset on Monday, March 1st.

More about Purim around the Web:

Read on to learn more about Purim - sometimes referred to as "the Jewish Mardi Gras" - one of the most joyous holidays on the Jewish calendar celebrated with costumes, parades, hamantaschen, e-cards, coloring pages, video clips, songs and lots more family activities.

Judaism 101 - Purim - The basic history behind the holiday, how it's celebrated today, along with a complete recipe for hamantaschen...

Chabad.org - Virtual Purim - Very cool Flash tour including the Internet's first full transalation of The Scroll of Esther with a first-hand account of the events of Purim, plus fun how to's on celebrations and special observances, audio and video highlights, online games, a costume contest, and more...

Purim - Wikipedia - Excellent, hyperlinked overview with interesting facts and historical tidbits on the holiday including the origins of the gragger, burning Haman in effigy, the reading of the Megillah, songs and customs, related links.

Purim Costumes Made Easy - Lots of do-it-yourself tips for making no-sew Purim kids costumes including a ladybug, kitten, flower, and a tzedakah (charity) box.

Torahtots - Purim - Lots of good, colorful kid stuff here including e-cards, online games, coloring pages, fun factoids and Purim trivia.

Purim on Mimi's Cyber Kitchen - Check out recipes for easy-bake hamantaschen, lemon poppy seed cake, moscardini, pralines and more...

also see in Holidays -> Chanukah | Rosh Hashana | Yom Kippur

also see in Religion -> Judaism