On Purim, many of us wear/wore costumes, at least for the night of the 14th/15th.
In the spirit of this, I would like to know the zman for donning one's costume for Purim. What is it?
asked Mar 6 '15 at 20:23
This is a very interesting question, and the answer may surprise you. It surprised me and I don't necessarily know what I'm talking about :-)
The decree from Haman came on the 13th of Nissan. Mordechai knows about it immediately, and there's this discussion with Esther about what to do, after which Esther says that all the Jews should fast with her and her maidens for 3 days.
Then, in Esther 5:1 it says:
ויהי ביום השלישי ותלבש אסתר מלכות
The 3rd day would make it the 16th of Nissan (middle of Pesach). It says the term ותלבש and the word for costume in Hebrew is תלבושת . So we see that on 16 Nissan Esther wore her royal "costume" - boy was Achashverush ever surprised! In more ways than one!
So, actually, Purim night or day is not the proper time to wear a costume. We should really be wearing it during Pesach on the 16th of Nissan.
