Pur Purim

"A lot, lots, a festival instituted by the Jews (Esther 9:24-32)" in ironical commemoration of Haman's consultation of the Pur (a "Persian word), for the purpose of ascertaining the auspicious" day for executing his cruel plot against their nation. It became "a national institution by the common consent of the Jews, and is" "observed by them to the present day, on the 14th and 15th of the" "month Adar, a month before the Passover."