Dressing up in masks and costumes is one of the most entertaining customs of the Purim holiday. Children in particular enjoy dressing up as the characters found in the Scroll of Esther, including King Ahashverosh, Vashti, Queen Esther, Mordechai, and the evil Haman.

Costumes and masks are worn to disguise the wearers identity. Mistaken identity plays an important role in Purim, possibility originating from Esther's concealment of her Jewish heritage or in Haman's mistaken belief that the King's reward was ment for him.

It is also evident in the Purim saying "that you are to drink until you can not distinguish between Haman and Mordechai."

But whatever the origin, masks and costumes help to make Purim a very festive holiday.

To help get you in the holiday spirit we have some "masks" for the you and kids to color. So get out the crayons and choose a mask from the 3 below. Just click and you can print directly from your browser or save to your harddrive and print later.

King Ahashverosh	Queen Esther
Haman

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The Megillah (Book of Esther)