The Book of Esther is one of the five megillot (scrolls), part of the section of the Hebrew Bible called Writings. It tells the story of Esther, a Jew who becomes queen of Persia and together with her cousin, Mordechai, foils a plot of the evil Haman to destroy the Jews. To commemorate the transformation from “grief and mourning to festive joy” (9:22), Esther and Mordechai establish the Purim holiday. The book of Esther is read publicly in the evening and morning of Purim.