Judaism is not a shopper's religion. Except for some precise objects that we need for certain holidays, our faith keeps us close to home and far from the mall. We have no Christmas season. Even our attempt to give gifts on Chanukah is but a pale imitation of our Christian brethren. And we are warned by the greatest of sages never to go to shul in order to show off the clothes that we have.
Oh, we have our needs. On Succoth we need to buy lulav and etrog. On Pesach we search the stores for Pesach food no less diligently than we search our houses for chametz. For Shabbat we buy a challah, and perhaps some special ingredients for the Shabbat meals that are always special. However, we never go out just to buy. On Purim we are asked to give to friends and to the poor, but we are expected to make what we give. Part of the festival is the joy of making food and cookies and cake for the poor and people who we call our friends. Part of the joy of the holiday is preparation. However, preparation is not only doing, but also teaching the lessons of the holiday.
In about a month we will be celebrating Purim; we begin those preparations early. There is the megillah to learn, and decisions concerning the clothes that the children will wear. We begin to teach about Haman and about all the Haman's of the world. We learn new songs for the holiday and talk about the capricious nature of time.
Our rabbis understood that preparation makes events lovely. They realized that people who party without preparations never really begin to understand the joy of the party. Malls are not part of Jewish celebration, but the home is, and the shul is and the school is. You see, for the Jew, holidays celebrated correctly have no price tag.