Israel Defense Forces soldiers stationed in the Gaza Strip should celebrate the joyous holiday of Purim on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar II, which this year falls out on March 24, Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef ruled on Sunday, according to the Arutz 7 network.
Purim celebrates the Jewish people’s deliverance in the Persian Empire during the fifth century. The biblical Scroll of Esther describes how the Persian viceroy, Haman the Agagite, plotted to annihilate the Jews.
Through a series of miraculous events, the Jews survived—and Haman ended up hanging on the gallows he had erected for his arch-enemy Mordechai the Jew.
Jewish law states that while most places celebrate Purim on the 14th, cities that were surrounded by walls during Joshua’s conquest of the Land of Israel—primarily Jerusalem—observe the festival a day later.
However, halachic uncertainty exists regarding Gaza, Hebron, Shechem (Nablus), Jaffa, Haifa, Safed, Tiberias, Lod and Acre.
In a lengthy ruling published Sunday, Yosef states that IDF soldiers in Gaza should fulfill the commandments of Purim, including the reading of the Esther Scroll and the holiday meal, on the 14th.
The ruling cites Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Yitzchak’s father, as noting that Gaza has been given to murderous Hamas terrorists, “the enemies of Israel from the sons of Ishmael.”
“May it be God’s will that he will uproot them [Hamas] and destroy them and make them perish soon in our days and that he will return the children [of Israel] to their borders [in Gaza],” concludes the ruling.
Hamas launched its war against the Jewish state on Oct. 7 with a large-scale invasion of southern Israel, murdering 1,200, wounding thousands and kidnapping 253 people, with 136 hostages remaining in Gaza (at least 32 are confirmed dead and another 20 may have been killed).
