The scroll of Esther is usually decorated with ornate drawings that depict notable scenes from the story. Nobody has a problem with the images of Haman and his sons hanging from the gallows that are found in the scroll. In fact, hanging an effigy, or likeness, of Haman in public is also common in some Jewish neighborhoods during Purim, the Festival of Lots.
The photos below (credit: Daily Mail) were taking in 2019.
While some communities find this practice horrible symbolism, some Jewish communities still celebrate and even encourage this practice. In the Chabad article “Eleven Purim Traditions for You and Your Family,” number Eight says:
“…create an effigy of Haman, the villain of the Purim saga, and then hang him (as was actually done after Esther unmasked his scheme to destroy her people, the Jews). Over the years, and in various countries, an array of colorful customs developed as to the exact treatment of this Haman doll. In some places it was shot with arrows, others burned it or otherwise creatively destroyed it.”
I grew up smashing piñatas on special occasions, usually at birthday parties. Piñatas are made in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but from what I can remember, unlike Pedro’s piñata of Summer Wheatley in the movie Napoleon Dynamite (see video below), the piñatas we had were always in the shape of things that we liked and not something that we hated.
When I first learned about the “Effigy of Haman” tradition, first of all, I thought “there’s no way I’m doing this in my neighborhood,” but secondly, I thought “what if we had a Haman piñata?” Not only would we have Haman hanging at our party, but we could have the children beat him with a stick and they would be rewarded with candy. At that moment, a tradition was born. Maybe Pedro was on to something.
Our intention was not to encourage violence or to celebrate the suffering of our enemies (Proverbs 24:17–18), but rather, to rejoice in the diminishment of evil (Proverbs 11:10). In the Purim story Haman represents ultimate evil and his defeat signifies the triumph of good over evil. This act is, essentially, a way for us to publicly mock and denounce his, and all, evil intentions aimed at the people of God.
Making Haman piñatas during Purim and piñatas of King Ahasuerus during Chanukah became one of the highlights of our festival celebrations. In the video below you can catch a glimpse of a past Purim Bash. This particular year (2010) we were featuring a Tweety Bird Haman. Jump to 00:21:10 to watch the piñata beating begin.
Part of the fun is making the Haman piñata. Before I learned how to make a piñata, I would buy one at the local Mexican grocery store and then decorate it to make it look like the evil villain. We had Shrek, Elmo, and other characters made to look like Haman or Ahasuerus.
Use your imagination to create memorable traditions for the children of your community!