# mishloach manot (מִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת)

pronounced: mish-LO-ach ma-NOT


**“Sending portions” — the gifts of food carried to friends on Purim, commanded in Esther 9:22**

## In Scripture

> Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to one another.
> — Esther 9:19 (This is one direct biblical occurrence behind the Purim practice of mishloach manot.)

> as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy.
> — Esther 9:22 (The Purim letter explicitly joins shared food gifts to feasting, gladness, and care for the needy.)


## How to read this entry

The definition comes from the IsraelForYou lexicon. Scripture quotations and their translation are named below; later tradition or modern usage is identified when it appears.


https://israelforyou.com/hebrew/mishloach-manot/