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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 (Ahasuerus) and his evil advisor, Haman -- and features a Jewish extermination plot, lots of seat-of-your-pants intrigue, along with a surprise ending as Esther saves the day.

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 family activities.

This year, Purim occurs in the Jewish Year 5768 and begins at sunset March 21, 2008 and ends at nightfall March 22, 2008.

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 with Aish! - Go on a tour with your host, Mordy Mermeltashen, offering teaching stories, video presentations, Purim how-to's, Purim songs in RealAudio, five different hamantashen recipes, kids activities, coloring pages.

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.

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