Purim 2027 Dates: Mark Your Calendar, Find Your Costume, and Get Ready for a Month of Miracles

Purim begins at nightfall on Monday, March 22, and continues through Tuesday, March 23. Jerusalem and other qualifying walled cities observe Shushan Purim on Wednesday, March 24.

A quick calendar detail: 2027 is a Jewish leap year, which means there are two months of Adar: Adar I and Adar II. Purim is celebrated in the second Adar. That's not just a calendar technicality. As it turns out, the placement of Purim in the second Adar is connected to one of the most interesting ideas linking Purim and Pesach. [Hebcal, Jewish Holidays 2027; Megillah 6b]

Purim has a curious way of bringing everyone into the action. Children dress up, adults dress up, families exchange food, and the Megillah gets read with enough noise to make Haman's name thoroughly unpleasant to hear.

But there's a deeper pattern here. Purim has some surprisingly strong connections to Pesach, particularly when it comes to women, children, redemption, and the way miracles happen.

And the more closely those connections are examined, the more it starts to look as though Purim and Pesach have rather a lot to talk about.

Look at the Jewish calendar and there's a noticeable difference in how children participate in different holidays.

At the Pesach Seder, the children are practically part of the programme. There's the Four Questions, the Four Sons, the Afikoman hunt, and a whole structure designed to get children asking questions about the Exodus.

Purim has its own child-friendly atmosphere: costumes, Megillah readings, Mishloach Manot (gifts of food sent to friends), and the general excitement of the day.

So is there a special reason these two holidays seem to put children front and centre?

Pesach has an explicit Torah command to involve children. Purim doesn't have an equivalent special instruction, but it has its own powerful connection to family participation.

The Torah says Vehigadeta levincha – Hebrew for “you shall tell your child.” This is the commandment to recount the story of the Exodus to the next generation. It's the foundation of the Seder's emphasis on questions, explanations, and making the story accessible to children at every level of understanding. [Exodus 13:8; Pesachim 116a]

The Haggadah's Four Sons are a particularly clear illustration. The Seder anticipates that children will approach the story differently, with different questions and different levels of understanding. The point isn't to deliver one speech and hope everyone pays attention. It's to make the story something each child can engage with.

Purim, meanwhile, doesn't have a corresponding command specifically requiring children to participate in the celebrations. The general mitzvah of chinuch – educating children in Jewish religious practice and helping them become accustomed to performing mitzvot – applies throughout the year, not just on Purim.

That distinction matters. The fact that children are so involved in Purim doesn't mean the holiday has a unique child-focused commandment equivalent to the Seder. Rather, its celebrations naturally lend themselves to family participation.

And perhaps that's part of the charm. Pesach makes sure the children ask questions. Purim gives them a reason to make a lot of noise.

There's a fascinating connection between Purim and Pesach hiding in the Jewish calendar.

The Gemara in Megillah discusses why Purim is celebrated in the second month of Adar during a leap year. One opinion, attributed to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, says that Purim should be placed in Adar II because it is preferable to connect one redemption with another.

The expression is semichat geulah l'geulah – literally, “bringing one redemption close to another.” The first redemption is Purim; the second is Pesach. [Megillah 6b; Rashi, Megillah 6b]

At first glance, that might seem like an odd connection. Pesach commemorates the dramatic Exodus from Egypt, complete with plagues, splitting seas, and a very public display of divine intervention. Purim takes place in the Persian Empire, where the Jewish people are saved through a complicated sequence of palace politics, unexpected reversals, and a queen who turns out to be rather more important than anyone initially realized.

One miracle is spectacularly obvious. The other requires a little detective work.

And that's precisely the point.

The Ramban (Nachmanides), in his commentary on the Torah, discusses the distinction between open miracles and hidden miracles. Pesach represents the open kind: events so extraordinary that the hand of Hashem is unmistakable. Purim represents the hidden kind: events that appear to unfold through ordinary circumstances, human decisions, and seemingly unrelated coincidences. [Ramban, Commentary on Exodus 13:16]

The Purim story never describes an overt supernatural miracle. There is no sea splitting or river turning to blood. Instead, there's a series of events that only make sense when viewed together: Esther becomes queen, Mordechai uncovers a plot, Haman's plans unravel, and the king's sleepless night changes the entire course of the story.

The name Megillat Esther itself has an interesting association with this idea. Megillah means scroll, while Esther is connected in Jewish interpretation with hester, meaning concealment. The miracle is there, but it takes some uncovering.

The lesson is that recognising the spectacular miracles of Pesach can help people appreciate the quieter miracles of everyday life. The same divine care that was visible in Egypt can also be present in the apparently ordinary events of Shushan.

And suddenly, a royal sleepless night looks a little less like bad luck.

The parallels between Pesach and Purim go beyond their shared theme of redemption.

Both stories involve a powerful ruler, a threat to the Jewish people, and a dramatic reversal of fortune. In Egypt, Pharaoh initially has a working relationship with the Israelites before their position deteriorates into slavery and persecution. In Persia, the story of Achashverosh and Haman likewise unfolds against a backdrop of shifting attitudes and political power.

There are also comparisons drawn in traditional commentary between the two royal courts and the way their rulers relate to the Jewish people. The Targum Simcha on Shemot (Exodus) is cited as discussing parallels between Achashverosh and Pharaoh.

And then there's a memorable set of initials.

Moshe and Aharon, the central leaders of the Exodus, begin with the Hebrew letters מ and א. Mordechai and Esther, the central figures of Purim, begin with מ and א as well. Those same initials also appear in Mashiach and Eliyahu – the Messiah and Elijah, associated with the future redemption.

This is presented as a symbolic connection rather than a formal halachic rule, but it makes for a striking idea: the people involved in past redemptions can be seen as part of a larger pattern that points toward the ultimate redemption.

Different places, different rulers, different circumstances. The same recurring story of Jewish survival and divine protection.

There's a familiar phrase from the Talmud: Mi'shenichnas Adar marbim b'simcha – “When Adar enters, joy increases.” It's one of the best-known expressions associated with Purim, and an excellent excuse to start being cheerful well before the actual holiday.

But Rashi adds an interesting detail when explaining the phrase. He writes:

Yemei nissim hayu l'Yisrael, Purim u'Pesach.

In English: “These were days of miracles for the Jewish people – Purim and Pesach.” [Rashi, Ta'anit 29a]

Why bring Pesach into a discussion about Adar? Isn't Purim enough?

One explanation returns to the idea of connecting one redemption to another. Adar isn't simply a month containing the Purim miracle. It ushers in a wider period of Jewish history associated with two major redemptions: Purim and Pesach.

Another explanation focuses on the difference between hidden and open miracles. The joy of Adar comes from recognising the hidden hand of Hashem in the Purim story. Pesach, with its unmistakable miracles, helps reveal that same divine involvement in events that might otherwise look entirely ordinary.

In other words, the open miracles of Pesach teach people how to recognize the hidden miracles of Purim – and perhaps the hidden miracles in everyday life, too. This interpretation is discussed in Ma'agal HaShanah by Rabbi Yehuda Leib Wittler.

There's also a more straightforward explanation brought in the She'elot Ya'avetz: if Adar is a month in which joy increases because of miraculous salvation, why should that joy be associated only with Adar? Other months contain festivals commemorating miracles, too, including Nissan and Kislev. The answer is that Adar begins a period leading into Pesach, so it contains the approach of multiple celebrations of redemption. [She'elot Ya'avetz]

Either way, Rashi's mention of Pesach is doing more than filling out the calendar. It's drawing attention to the relationship between the two festivals.

Purim celebrates the miracle that was hidden in the details. Pesach celebrates the miracle that was impossible to miss. Together, they offer two ways of recognising the same divine protection.

• Save the dates. Purim begins Monday evening, March 22, and the main day is Tuesday, March 23.
  
  

• Check your local observance. Jerusalem celebrates Shushan Purim on Wednesday, March 24.
  
  

• Plan for Ta'anit Esther. The Fast of Esther takes place on Monday, March 22.
  
  

• Get the Mishloach Manot sorted. Food gifts have a habit of becoming a last-minute production.
  
  

• Make room for the Megillah. There are two readings to plan around: one at night and one during the day.
  
  

• Find the costume. Preferably before the evening before Purim.
  
  

• Remember the bigger picture. Between the costumes, food, and celebrations, Purim is also a reminder that not every miracle arrives with fireworks.
  
  

Purim may be the holiday with the costumes and the noise, but underneath all that is a story about redemption, resilience, and recognising the miracles that aren't always immediately obvious.

So get the dates into the calendar, start thinking about Mishloach Manot, and remember: sometimes the most extraordinary things happen while everyone thinks it's just an ordinary Tuesday.

Chag Purim Sameach!