The bonfire

The Minhag of children lighting bonfires on Purim.  The גמרא says ( Sanhedrin 64b)  "כמשוורתא דפוריא." Rashi explains, "On פורים, children* light a fire  in a pit and  jump over it." The (רמ"א (דרכי משה או"ח תר"צ  quotes from the ערוך, who writes, "All over the world בחורים make an effigy of המן and hang it on their roofs for a few days. During Purim, they light a fire, hang the effigy on a ring called 'משוורתא דפורים', and stand** there and sing. They also jump across from one side of the fire to the other. *It was before they had Chasidic Rebbes; otherwise, the lighting of the fire would have been done, like on Lag B'Omer, by the Rebbes, not by children. **It would seem that in the times of the גמרא, they didn't know of a היתר to dance the דרכי אמורי dance in front of a fire --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   זכר זכר או זכר ולא זכר Zechor - remember Zaicher pronounce it Zaicher with a ציריi Oi Zecher - or pronounce it Zecher with a סגול V'lo Zochor and don't pronounce it Zochor with a קמץ אמבצי