אנגלית - Purim

							Purim

Presentation: hava narisha: rash, rash, rash (let us make noise : noise, noise
noise)

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The custom of making noise in order to obliterate the memory of Haman is not special to
Haman or to the festival of Purim: many communities had the tradition of making noise
whenever the name of an enemy of Israel was mentioned.
The custom of obliterating the name of Haman at Purim derives directly from the
injunction to obliterate the name of Amalek (see Deuteronomy 25, 19), because Haman
was a descendant of Agag: “Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite” (Book of
Esther, 3, 1) who was an Amalekite (I Samuel 15, 8).

Rabbenu Yosef Caro wrote on the verse “the name of the wicked shall rot” (Proverbs 10,
7) and on the custom of striking Haman which developed in Germany (Oreh Hayim,
paragraph 690): “when the reader reads the name of Haman and his sons, the children
beat with stones or with pieces of wood which they hold in their hands and on which the
names of Haman and his sons are written. And with this beating they oblite rate”
(editor‟s emphasis).

Photo:
Rembrandt: “Ahasuerus, Haman and Esther” (oil on canvas, 1660)

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This custom has its origin in the Haggada : “It is said „for I will utterly put out the
remembrance of Amalek‟ (Exodus 17, 14), even above the trees and above the stones.
Therefore one should not mock customs, for they were not created gratuitously. And this
custom is kept in France and in the provinces, and it stresses the verse „and the name of
the wicked shall rot.‟”
The tradition which evolved in Israeli communities is to make noise during the reading of
the Book of Esther when the name of Haman is mentioned. As a result, a number of
noise- making objects were developed, which were called rashanim (rattles). An extensive
collection of Purim rattles from a wide range of communities is on view at the Wolfson
Museum in Heichal Shlomo (seat of the Chief Rabbinate) in Jerusalem.

Photo:
Limited facsimile edition of the Book of Esther illuminated by Abraham Borshevsky.
Copyright: http://www.borshevsky.com/esther.htm

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Who was Amalek?
Amalek was the grandson of Esau and the Amalekites were an ancient people who figure
in the Bible and who lived in the deserts of Southern Israel.
According to the I Samuel (30, 1-16), the Amalekites were a nomadic people who lived
by the sword, from robbing and looting. Some identified them with the Heksus who ruled
over the ancient world with a heavy hand and great cruelty for hundreds of years.
After attacking the children of Israel as they made the exodus from Egypt and smiting
even all the feeble, Amalek became the enemy of Israel and this is how he is described in
Deuteronomy 25 (17-19).




Today, the injunction to obliterate the seed of Amalek has lost its principle meaning
because there is no one ethnic people that can be identified with Amalek. The Sages
linked this to Sanheriv, the King of Assyria who “confused the nations” by exiling them
from one place to another.
Some connected other enemies of Jews with Amalek. Haman was called the Agagite –
recalling Agag, the Amalekite king (Haman being his genetic or spiritual descendant). In
the wake of the Holocaust, some identified the Nazi enemy as the modern Amalek.

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The use of rattles for different purposes goes back a long way. Already in the 17th
century, rattles were used by policemen in Europe and in the US to call for
reinforcements or to raise the attention of the population. There are Jewish rattles which
were originally police rattles on which Jewish artists carved Hebrew inscriptions or added
engraved silver pieces, thus turning them into Jewish rattles for use at Purim.
Some 30 examples of rattles can be seen at the Heichal Shlomo Museum in Jerusalem.
The rattles are divided into nine categories.

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‘The Hammer’
This type of rattle is in the shape of a hammer and consists of a handle and a head. The
top part of the handle consists of a cogwheel, while the head consists of a strip of wood.
When the head is turned, the wood strikes against the cogwheel and makes a noise. The
hammer type of rattle is the most common today.

      A unique form of hammer rattle, bearing a swastika and the inscription “and they
       hanged Haman” – alluding clearly to the Nazi enemy, Adolf Hitler.
       Made in a concentration camp in Cyprus, 1947

      A hammer rattle in silver with an illustrated head. On one side the figure of
       Mordechai the Jew riding a horse and dressed in royal clothes can be seen, while
       the other side shows the figure of Haman hanging from a high tree, surrounded by
       soldiers.
       USA, 1970s.

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‘The Box’
The center of the box has a cylinder with cog, on which rest strips of wood or tin which
are attached to the walls of the box. When the handle on top is turned, the cylinder turns
and every cog gets stuck in the wood strips and makes a noise.
     „Infernal machine‟ box rattle, Poland-Lithuania.

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‘The Exploding Hamme r’
This rattle looks exactly like the hammer, except that the head is hollow and the empty
cavity is filled with gunpowder or gun-caps. A type of piston is inserted into the cavity
and the rattle is struck forcefully against a wall or on the ground. In this way, explo sive
substances explode and make noise.

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‘The Kleper’
The kleper hammer is meant to be struck against a bench or a table. The simple version of
this type of rattle consists of a small hammer that rocks on a hinge. Another version is
based on English and American police rattles from the end of the Middle Ages where the
board on which the hammer strikes is part of the rattle.
     Kleper rattle, Italy

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‘Vajezata’
This is a more complicated rattle, which has one handle and ten small hammers (like the
ten sons of Haman, of whom Vajezata was the youngest). When the rattle is waved and
turned, the ten hammers strike against the base.
     German version, end of Middle Ages

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‘The Castanet Rattle’
In this type of rattle, castanets (boards) strike against each other and create noise. There
are different ways of striking this rattle: sometimes people used boards of wood that were
attached together on one side only; sometimes they held the joined side in their hands,
placing their hands in strips that were attached to the external boards (Poland);
sometimes they held the rattle in their hands and shook it so that the two external boards
would swing on a hinge, hitting the middle board (Galicia and Bukhara).
     French version, wood and metal threads
      Polish version, wood with leather strips

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‘The Bell Rattle’
A simple rattle consisting of a wooden board that probably served as a baking utensil, on
which was placed two metal bells within two metals discs. When the rattle is shaken the
bells clank as they hit the metal discs.
     Vilna version, wood with metal bells

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‘Shis-Brattel’
This rattle was used by children in Vilna and the literal meaning is “the shooting board.”
The rattle is made from two boards that are attached together at one end and tied with
rubber bands or with a spring. Nails would be inserted at the other end, with their heads
exposed, facing the small rubbers on the opposite board containing gun-caps. When the
name of Haman was read the children would pull the upper knot and loosen it so that the
nails would strike the rubbers with the caps, making them explode. The popular “cap
gun” derives from this rattle.
     Shis-Brattel rattle used by children in Vilna

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‘The Hanging Rattle’
A highly sophisticated Polish creation, with unique symbolism.
When the handle of the rattle is turned – Haman is hanged as it were. The handle turns a
pivot joined to a cylinder on which is bound the hanging rope that raises and lowers
Haman according to the direction it is turned in.
     Hanging rattle, Poland-Galicia

Author: Professor Daniel Shfarber, President of the Advanced Torah Institute, University
of Bar Ilan
Photos: Collection of the Museum of Ceremonial Jewish Art, Heichal Shomo Jewish
Heritage Center, Jerusalem