What's your Purim costume?

[The One and Only Mo]

I thought this would be cool to discuss. I'm putting a vail tightly around my face for Purim. It's scary as hell, and I freaked my mom out so badly the other day she shrieked so loudly ! I wish I could post a pic of myself with it on (I don't even look like me when it's on, but rules are rules).

[Moshe92]

I'm not wearing a costume this year, but I sometimes dressed up as King Achashverosh when I was little. I carried a plastic scepter, and I wore a mask and a fake crown.

[muman613]

Im not big on costumes so I usually just grab a Tie-Die and blue-jeans and call it a Hippie costume...

Heres some photos from Chabads Purim 2007 which I attended:
http://www.jewishcontracosta.com/templates/photogallery/photogallery_cdo/aid/496256/jewish/Purim-07-County-Fair.htm

Here is the picture of me at that event: Im on the far left of the picture wearing the Grateful Dead shirt and black baseball cap...

[The One and Only Mo]

Im not big on costumes so I usually just grab a Tie-Die and blue-jeans and call it a Hippie costume...

Heres some photos from Chabads Purim 2007 which I attended:
http://www.jewishcontracosta.com/templates/photogallery/photogallery_cdo/aid/496256/jewish/Purim-07-County-Fair.htm

Here is the picture of me at that event: Im on the far left of the picture wearing the Grateful Dead shirt and black baseball cap...

Muman, I thought we're not allowed to post pics of ourselves here?

[muman613]

Im not big on costumes so I usually just grab a Tie-Die and blue-jeans and call it a Hippie costume...

Heres some photos from Chabads Purim 2007 which I attended:
http://www.jewishcontracosta.com/templates/photogallery/photogallery_cdo/aid/496256/jewish/Purim-07-County-Fair.htm

Here is the picture of me at that event: Im on the far left of the picture wearing the Grateful Dead shirt and black baseball cap...

Muman, I thought we're not allowed to post pics of ourselves here?

That is true... But in this picture it is difficult to recognize me... I will remove it shortly...

[Sefardic Panther]

Wearing costumes on Purim is a european pagan practice inspired by the catholic festivities of lent. The Sefardim never had this costume custom.

http://www.chayas.com/costumes.htm

All Ivrim should only wear a red fez on Purim like the Hasidim in Mea Shearim.

[muman613]

Wearing costumes on Purim is a european pagan practice inspired by the catholic festivities of lent. The Sefaradim never had this costume custom.

http://www.chayas.com/costumes.htm

All Ivrim should only wear a red fez on Purim like the Hasidim in Mea Shearim.

I have never heard such a thing. The reasons for the costume is because the whole message of Purim is the Hester Panim, the Hidden Face of Hashem... By dressing up we are in effect showing that what is seen on the outside is not necessarily what we see on the inside.

http://www.ou.org/shabbat_shalom/article/mm_purim

Tzav - Dressing Up on Purim
Rabbi Asher Meir

Please note that in past years, Rabbi Meir's pre-Purim column consisted of "Purim Torah", light-hearted spoof in the Purim spirit. The following column, although on a Purim topic, is totally serious.

One of the most prominent customs practiced today on Purim is to dress up in costumes, and this custom is mentioned already in the Rishonim. The Rema mentions that it is acceptable even for men to dress up as women (although there are dissenting opinions), even though this seemingly violates the prohibition of "A man's clothes shall not be on a woman, and a man shall not wear women's clothes" (D'varim 22:8). Others mention that is customary to dress up as non-Jews, although this seemingly violates the prohibition "don't go in their ways" (Vayikra 18:3).

Here is one explanation of this custom.

The prohibition to be likened to non- Jews exists at several levels. In general, this prohibition, like other Torah prohibitions, should not stand in the way of danger, and indeed the Shulchan Arukh writes that a person may dress up like a non-Jew to avoid being identified as a Jew if Jews are being attacked (YD 157:2). However, if there is a decree for Jews to dress like non-Jews in order to make us lose our distinctiveness, then we are forbidden to change our dress even in the face of danger (YD 157:1).

Likewise, entering a place of idolatrous worship is normally forbidden; however, it is permissible in order to escape danger, but forbidden if the danger arises from a decree against Jewish worship.

In other words, the degree of prohibition depends on the motivation of hostile non-Jews. If their objective is to make us give up our traditions, then we must resist at all costs. But if their enmity is irrespective of our customs, then we can be more lenient. I heard from a prominent Rav that in the time of the Holocaust the rabbis were particularly lenient, because the object of the Nazis was not at all to make us give up our customs; on the contrary, they explicitly included in their mass killings people of Jewish background who did not even identify themselves as Jews.

At the time of Purim, the decree of Haman was directed against all Jews. It is true that the stated reason behind the decree was Haman's claim that we were a people who didn't keep the king's laws (Esther 3:8), but this was not Haman's true motivation, and in any case the decree applied to all Jews.

In this case, dressing up as a non-Jew would have been permissible. So the custom to dress up as non-Jews reminds us that this practice would have been permissible at the time of the original miracle, due to the unique nature of Haman's decree.

Another possible explanation is that the non-Jews at that time likened them- selves to Jews, as the Megila states 'And many of the common people Judaized themselves" (Esther 8:17). We commemorate and mock this insincere, purely external adherence to Judaism by adopting a purely external likeness to non-Jews while internally remaining fully devoted to our faith.

Rabbi Asher Meir is the author of the book Meaning in Mitzvot, distributed by Feldheim. The book provides insights into the inner meaning of our daily practices, following the order of the 221 chapters of the Kitzur Shulchan Arukh.

I believe the custom of dressing up for Purim far outdates the Christian holiday.

[muman613]

More evidence that this custom was derived from authentic Halacha:

http://www.dailyhalacha.com/Display.asp?ClipDate=2/27/2004

Purim- Is It Permissible To Wear Masks or Dress Up As The Opposite Gender or Allow Magicians

Our topic today is regarding the Minhag to wear costumes on Purim. This Minhag is brought down in the Ramah, and therefore it has its source in Halacha. Different reasons were given why we have the custom to wear masks. One explanation as mentioned in Gemara Megilah is based on one of the reasons why G-d came down on the Jewish people with the affliction of Haman. One reason was because years before, the Jewish people bowed to one of the idols of Nevuchadnesar. So the Gemara says, “Hem Lo Asu Ela Lapanim.” Meaning, that the Jewish people did not have the intent to bow to Avoda Zara (idol worshipping). They did bow down, but their Kavanah was to G-d. So since they only did an external action, without the internal Kavanah, G-d only made an external action, meaning it appeared as if Haman was going to destroy the Jewish people, but G-d never had any intent to let Haman go through with it. They made an external action of bowing, so G-d went through an external decree of Haman. Based on that, we therefore wear a mask which covers up the face of a person, which is also an external cover that hides the true image of a person. Based on why the whole miracle happened, ‘Hem Lo Asu Ela Lepanim’, so therefore we also cover our face up to show that there is something deeper behind it.
...

http://www.torah.org/advanced/haaros/5757/TRUMAH97.html

http://www.askmoses.com/en/article/530,433/Why-do-we-wear-a-costume-on-Purim.html

[Rubystars]

I hope you guys don't mind me commenting on the thread. I just wanted to say I think this is really interesting. I love dressing up for Halloween (which is a secular thing for me), and I never knew that some Jews dressed up for Purim so it's really neat to learn about that by reading this thread.

[~Hanna~]

What can one dress up as for Purim?

Is it just a biblical character?

[The One and Only Mo]

dress as anything. Of course I wouldn't dress up as Santa, Hitler, or Jesus ..... if you get my drift.

[~Hanna~]

dress as anything. Of course I wouldn't dress up as Santa, Hitler, or Jesus ..... if you get my drift.

yes, ok. What about a fairy princess?

[muman613]

dress as anything. Of course I wouldn't dress up as Santa, Hitler, or Jesus ..... if you get my drift.

yes, ok. What about a fairy princess?

Of course... Most girls dress as some kind of princess or another...

[The One and Only Mo]

dress as anything. Of course I wouldn't dress up as Santa, Hitler, or Jesus ..... if you get my drift.

yes, ok. What about a fairy princess?

Of course... Most girls dress as some kind of princess or another...

Some guys do, too.

[muman613]

dress as anything. Of course I wouldn't dress up as Santa, Hitler, or Jesus ..... if you get my drift.

yes, ok. What about a fairy princess?

Of course... Most girls dress as some kind of princess or another...

Some guys do, too.

Yes, in another thread I mentioned that some Rabbis say it is OK for men to dress as women on Purim... I discovered this because my Chabad Rabbis young son told me a friend of his would be dressing as Esther, I asked if it was a girl and he said no, it was a boy... This led me to investigate the halacha and according to Ashkenazi custom it is not prohibited... But Sephardic rabbis dont condone this.