Obj. ID: 55329
  Sacred and Ritual  Purim Plaque, Jerusalem, circa 1990

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

For the holiday of Purim, the scroll of the Esther story is the main object, well known and read throughout the world every year in celebration. But there exists another object as well, far less well-known. While there probably is a tradition of making the hand a page, or poster, to be hung on the wall for Purim, it is only in the 20th century that this sort of decorative sheet appeared in print, commonly referred to as an "Adar Plaque".  They generally feature the image of two fish, the Zodiac sign for Pisces, or "Mazal Dagim", representing the Jewish month of Adar, during which the Purim holiday occurs. There often appear as well visual references to wine such as grapes, wine barrels, glasses, decanters, or bottles of the drink. These items symbolize the instruction to drink and be merry in celebration of the holiday, which commemorates the redemption from a particularly planned massacre of the Jews in Persia. Such printed pages were generally printed in Central Europe or in Israel, where they were probably the tradition carried to the Holy Land by immigrants from that area of Europe.

This particular example shows a fully laden table for the celebration of the holiday and hints as well at the custom of sending food and money to friends and neighbors in exchange for gifts, called "Mishloach Manot". It is a popular, rather graciously colored print, with a general similarity to two other Israeli printings of such plaques.