Shushan (Susa) Purim

Name given to the day which follows Purim—i.e., to the 15th of Adar, on which day, according to the Book of Esther (ix. 18), the Purim festival is held in Shushan. As a matter of fact, the 15th of Adar is Purim day not only at Shushan, but at all large, walled cities (see Meg. 2a, b concerning the time when it became necessary to surround cities with walls), as is clearly indicated in Esth. ix. 19, 21; but as Shushan is directly referred to, while the cities surrounded with walls are only vaguely indicated, the day is called "Shushan Purim." It would seem also from the same passage and from verses 27 and 28 that both the 14th and 15th of Adar were observed as festival days in Shushan and in all other walled cities; but the Rabbis explain (Meg. l.c.) that on one day the festival was observed in unwalled cities and on the other in Shushan and other walled places. Although, in fact, the 14th of Adar is not celebrated by the Jews of Shushan nor the 15th by the Jews of unwalled cities, yet the observance of certain rabbinic regulations reminds Jews living in unwalled places of the Shushan Purim. Thus on the 15th one must not mourn over the dead nor fast; that part of the morning prayer called "Taḥanun" must be omitted; and the meal must be more elaborate than on ordinary days (Shulḥan 'Aruk, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 696, 3).

J. M. Sel.