MARCH 14/ADAR 14

פורים שמח

PURIM

In 355 BCE, the Jews celebrated their successful defeat of Haman's anti-Semitic mobs, an event we have continued to celebrate every year since then with the Purim holiday. We read the Megillah (Scroll of Esther), which commemorates the story of how the Jews of Persia narrowly escaped annihilation thanks to the bravery of Esther and Mordechai. In addition, it is traditional to dress up in costumes, eat festive meals, give charity and gifts, and drink until one “doesn’t know the difference between blessed is Mordechai and cursed is Haman.” During Jewish leap years we celebrate Purim in the second month of Adar.

1854:

Birthday of Paul Ehrlich, German doctor who won the 1908 Nobel Prize for developing the first successful treatment for syphilis, a disease which had previously been widespread and fatal. His proposed “magic bullets” are what we recognize now as antibody production in response to a microbial toxin.

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