The Jewish holiday of Purim begins this coming Wednesday night, the 7th of March. Fulfill the mitzvah of sending treats to your neighbors the green way.

Purim celebrates the victory of the Jews over Haman’s “final solution,” in 356 BCE. It’s a deceptively childlike holiday. Families gather in the synagogue to hear the colorful Purim story as written by its heroes, Queen Esther and her adoptive father, Mordechai.  There’s a happy feeling in the streets as children running around in costumes deliver baskets full of goodies all over the neighborhood. Here are some eco-friendly costume ideas for your little ones. Grownups at the festive lunch indulge freely in wine. Once Purim’s over, here are some ways to reuse your wine bottles.

Yet all this good cheer is the bright side of a grim episode in Jewish history. Babylonian King Ahasuerus’s vizier, Haman, persuaded the king to approve a decree purging all his lands of the Jews. If the king had not revoked the decree, the entire Jewish nation would have been annihilated then and there, for he ruled over all of the civilized world. Today’s masks and costumes commemorate Queen Esther’s concealment of her Jewishness till the night when she dramatically revealed her true self to the besotted King and exposed Haman’s plot to kill her people.

Ahasuerus ordered Haman executed. Mordechai, had served the king faithfully as court adviser and indeed had saved his life previously; he took Haman’s place in authority. From from despair to salvation and from concealment to joyful revelation – these are some of the themes that run through the Purim holiday.