Israeli children in Purim costumes read the Esther scrolls at a synagogue in the Israeli town of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv on March 7, 2012. The carnival-like Purim holiday is celebrated starting the evening of March 7 with parades and costume parties to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to exterminate them in the ancient Persian empire 2,500 years ago, as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther. By Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images.