PERSIAN WINE PARTY

Purim this year occurs in the second week of March. The vines will be budding, the vineyards will be covered in spring flowers and local fauna will be darting between the vines, using the vineyard as a playground. Spring is here. But that is growing wine here and now. We will shortly be celebrating the Festival of Purim that relates back to wine a long, long time ago in Persia, approximately BCE 5,000. The background to the Purim story unfolded during Persian wine infused banquets that were all the rage in those days. In a nutshell, the Persian Jews were saved from the evil Haman who wanted to destroy them. Purim is also known as the Feast of Lots, because Haman drew lots to help
decide which day the massacre would take place. The story is retold in the Book of Esther in the Bible. In the end Haman was hanged and Mordechai, the Jew, replaced him as First Minister. The
hero of the story is Esther, who became queen by marrying King Ahasuerus, and plucked up courage to tell the king of the plot. Thereby saving the Jewish people.