What is Shushan Purim ?
Shushan Purim literally means "Lots (in) Shushan" or "Lots (in) Susa" in Hebrew. In particular, Shushan Purim refers to "The Feast of Lots" - that is, Purim - in Shushan (or Susa), Persia/Iran.
What does Shushan Purim celebrate ?
Shushan Purim celebrates the victory of the Persian Jews in Shushan (or Susa), Persia over the followers of Haman Ha-Agagi, the vizier or prime minister of the Persian Empire who was second in command to the King of Persia at that time, King Ahasuerus [Ahasuerus or Ahashuerus was his Greek name; he was also known by his Persian name of Xerxes (King Xerxes I); his Hebrew name is Ahashverosh or Achashverosh]. Haman wanted the destruction of the Persian Jews because a prominent Persian Jew, Mordechai, did not bow down to Haman as if he were a G-d. So in the month of Nissan or Nisan in the Hebrew/Jewish year of 3404 (357 B.C.E. according to many Jewish scholars or 484 B.C.E. according to many secular scholars), Haman then drew lots ("Purim" in Hebrew) to fix a date for the destruction of the Persian-Jewish population. The result was that the destruction of the Persian-Jews was to occur on the 13th day of the Hebrew/Jewish month of Adar, in 356 B.C.E. (according to many Jewish scholars; according to many secular scholars, this date was the 13th day of Adar, in 483 B.C.E.). Haman then convinced the king to issue a decree and obtained his seal of approval on paper, which when once stamped, could not be reversed. A few days later after Haman fixed the date and obtained the king's decree, Haman was exposed by the King's Jewish wife, Esther, as being against the Queen and her fellow Jewish people in Persia. At the same time, Queen Esther told her husband that Mordechai saved him from an assassination attempt by two of the king's eunuchs. The king became enraged at Haman and so Haman was then hung on the gallows he had prepared for Mordechai. This again, was in the month of Nissan or Nisan in the year 357 B.C.E. according to may Jewish scholars (or 484 B.C.E. according to many secular scholars; there are some secular scholars who are more general and claim that the time frame for the story of Purim and Shushan Purim is between the destruction of the First Temple in either 587 B.C.E. or 586 B.C.E. and the building of the Second Temple from either 521 B.C.E. to 516 B.C.E. or from 520 B.C.E. to 515 B.C.E.).
However, the decree that was issued by the king was already sealed with the stamp from his signet-ring and so by Persian law it could not be reversed. So the followers of Haman and thus the enemies of the Jewish people in Persia prepared to carry out the decree which was to take place towards the end of the following year on the 13th of Adar, in either 483 B.C.E. or 356 B.C.E. In response, Queen Esther obtained permission from the king for the Persian-Jews to arm themselves in the interim. Toward the end of the year 483 B.C.E. or 356 B.C.E., on the 13th day of Adar, the day that the decree was to be carried out, war broke out between the Persian-Jews and the followers of Haman. The war lasted for only one day - the 13th day of Adar - throughout the rural areas and in the cities in the 127 provinces of Persia at that time, but it lasted for two days - the 13th day and 14th day of Adar - in the capital city of Persia, which was called Shushan or Susa (Shushan or Susa was the governmental capital city while Persepolis was the ceremonial capital city of the Persian Empire). The Persian-Jews throughout the 127 provinces of the kingdom - except for the Jews living in Shushan or Susa - were granted a day of rest and celebration of their victory by the king on the 14th day of Adar while the Persian-Jews in Shushan or Susa were granted a day of rest and celebration of their victory on the 15th day of Adar. It is these two days, the 14th of Adar and the 15th of Adar, that were proclaimed by Mordechai to be festival days, to be commemorated yearly in every generation. These two festival days were called Purim, named after Haman's method of drawing lots to determine the day of destruction of the Persian-Jewish population. Jewish people who live in walled cities which existed as walled cities in early biblical times when the biblical Hebrew leader Joshua conquered the Land of Israel (this includes Jerusalem, Israel), in addition to Shushan or Susa (now known as Shush), which was a walled city when the miracle of Purim occurred, celebrate Purim on the 15th day of Adar, and this day is known as "Shushan Purim", while all other Jewish people worldwide celebrate Purim on the 14th day of Adar, and to them, the 14th day of Adar is simply known as "Purim". Now you know!
Note that some scholars claim that throughout the 127 provinces of the Persian Empire - excluding the cities, and excluding Shushan or Susa - the Persian-Jews defeated the followers of Haman on the 13th of Adar, while it took two days - the 13th and 14th of Adar - for the Persian-Jews of Shushan or Susa to defeat the followers of Haman in Shushan or Susa as well as in all the cities of the 127 provinces of Persia. The king granted the Persian-Jews a day of rest and celebration of their victory in the rural areas throughout the 127 provinces (excluding the cities and the capital city of Shushan or Susa) on the 14th of Adar, and granted the Jews of Shushan or Susa, Persia as well as the Jews who lived in the cities throughout the 127 provinces of Persia a day of rest and celebration of their victory on the 15th of Adar. Thus, as mentioned, Jews who live in walled cities which existed as walled cities in early biblical times when the biblical Hebrew leader Joshua conquered the Land of Israel (this includes Jerusalem, Israel), in addition to Shushan or Susa (now known as Shush), which was a walled city when the miracle of Purim occurred, celebrate Purim on the 15th of Adar and call the festival "Shushan Purim", while all other Jews worldwide celebrate Purim on the 14th of Adar, and simply call the festival "Purim".
Which walled cities are permitted by Halakhah (Jewish law) to celebrate Shushan Purim ?
Initially, Mordechai and Esther decreed that only walled cities should celebrate Purim on the 15th day of Adar. This included the Jews of Shushan or Susa, who were permitted by the Jewish religious authorities or Sages of the time to celebrate Shushan Purim, since it was the only place in the world where Purim was celebrated on the 15th of Adar. However, the Jewish Sages at the time of the story of Purim wanted to honor Jerusalem, which in their time lay in ruins. The Sages also wanted to ensure that a Perisan city was not honored more than Jerusalem, especially since it lay in ruins. To achieve this goal, they used an earlier period in time, when Yehoshua bin Nun ("Joshua, son of Nun" in Hebrew) conquered the Land of Israel, which was a time when the city of Jerusalem had walls surrounding it before it was conquered by Joshua, to determine which cities were walled cities. As just mentioned, the Sages wanted to give honor to Jerusalem and the Land of Israel as a whole, since it was desolate in their time. They therefore decreed that although Shushan or Susa was not settled by Hebrews/Jews and hence, did not not have a wall that surrounded it when Joshua conquered the Land of Israel, the miracle of Purim nevertheless took place in Shushan or Susa and hence, gave the right for the Jews of Shushan or Susa to celebrate Purim - to be called Shushan Purim - on the 15th of Adar. However, cities that had surrounding walls and were settled by Hebrews/Jews when Joshua conquered the Land of Israel - even if those cities and walls were now in ruin or the walls no longer existed - were nevertheless also considered to be important. They therefore were given "Shushan" status by the Sages to celebrate Shushan Purim on the 15th of Adar. At the same time, cities which did not have walls which surrounded them when Joshua conquered the Land of Israel - even if they now have walls surrounding them - are to celebrate Purim on the 14th of Adar and refer to the day simply as "Purim".
Thus, the criteria for judging whether or not a city was to be given "Shushan" status and hence celebrate Purim on the 15th of Adar or otherwise celebrate Purim on the 14th of Adar was based on the state of the city when Joshua conquered the Land of Israel; whether or not it was settled by Hebrews/Jews and whether or not it had a wall that surrounded it. This ruling gave both Jerusalem and the Land of Israel as a whole an added status known as "Shushan" status in the time when these Sages established the festival of Purim, which was a time when both Jerusalem and the Land of Israel were nothing more than desolate areas. The reason behind this ruling, in addition to giving added status to the desolate state of Jerusalem and the Land of Israel, was that these Sages considered the destruction of Jerusalem and the Land of Israel in their time to be a temporary state, and so they thought their status and importance would rise again.
To summarize, the 15th of Adar, which is Shushan Purim, is celebrated in Shushan or Susa, Persia/Iran and in cities that were settled with Hebrews/Jews and had walls surrounding them when Joshua conquered the Land of Israel. Cities that now have walls surrounding them - even if they are now considered to be important - since they did not have walls surrounding them and were not settled by Hebrews/Jews when Joshua conquered the Land of Israel and thus were not considered to be important - do not celebrate Shushan Purim and instead, celebrate Purim on the 14th day of Adar. As a result, the Purim which is celebrated on the 14th of Adar is known as the Purim of the "Open" (I.E. unwalled or less important) cities, while the Purimwhich is celebrated on the 15th day of Adar is referred to as the Purim of the walled (I.E. major cities). However, today, besides Shushan or Susa, the only other city which celebrates Purim on the 15th of Adar is Jerusalem. There a few cities in Israel which have the custom to read the Megillah (also known as the biblical Book of Esther which contains the story of Purim) on the 15th of Adar in addition to reading it on the 14th of Adar, and this is based on the citizens' belief that their city might have had a surrounding wall when Joshua conquered the Land of Israel. These cities are: Tiberias, Acre, and Jaffa. However, based on their doubt that their city had a surrounding wall in Joshua's time, they read the Megillah on the 15th of Adar but do not recite the associated blessings on the 15th of Adar. They essentially recite the Megillah on the 15th of Adar in addition to the 14th of Adar because they are not sure of their status and so to be stringent, they recite the Megillah on both days.
For more Shushan Purim information, check out our other Shushan Purim pages below:
Shushan Purim 2007 Countdown Clock
Shushan Purim Home Page
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