Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Lamport, a 19th-century Belarusian rabbi and teacher, was also an honored commentator on Torah and Halacha in the tradition of the Gaon of Vilna.

The essay discusses the origins and controversies surrounding popular Purim customs such as drunkenness, Purimspiels (farcical plays), and wearing costumes.

The text discusses a tradition where pregnant women would bite off the tip of the etrog after Sukkot in a symbolic act tied to childbirth pains, stemming from the Tsena-Urena, a Yiddish biblical commentary popular among women in early modern Ashkenazic communities.