One of my favorite holidays - Purim - is fast approaching. Purim is a great holiday on the Jewish calendar - it's happy, festive, and yet not filled with the traditional restrictions that come with other holidays (i.e. no work, no driving, etc. Similar to Shabbat). There are four mitzvot (commandments) that accompany the holiday of Purim -

-- Hear the Megillah. The Book of Esther is read Purim night and in the morning (remember that Jewish holidays go sundown to sundown). The book tells the Purim Story which took place in Persia under King Ahashverosh. It's a great story to share with children, and although we celebrate the miracle that the Jewish people were saved, the Megillah is the only book in the Bible that does not contain the name of G-d.

-- Give Tzedakah. We have a commandment to give charity to others who are in less fortunate positions than we are. Anna loves putting money in her tzedakah box at home, and she'll be contributing when she goes to synagogue this Purim. It's a great message to teach kids early on that not everyone is in as good a situation as we are.

-- Give Mishloach Manot - this is my favorite part. Mishloach manot - literally 'the sending of portions' are bags or baskets of food (and sometimes other items as well) that we deliver, send or have sent to our friends and family. Lots of people get really into the idea, doing theme based mishloach manot - some are simple, others are over the top extravagant. One year we got mishloach manot from our neighbors in a baseball cap (used as the basket part) and it contained cracker jacks, bubble gum and other baseball game type food.

-- Have a feast. Okay, this too is my favorite part. And it's so easy this year as Purim is on a Sunday, there's really no excuse not to. We have a mitzvah to be happy on Purim, and there's nothing like good food and good company.