This Sunday and Monday Shawn has off from school for Purim. Its time for a Jewish holiday (though not one of the high holy days) where the goal is to get so drunk that you can't tell the difference between Haman and Mordecai. Ha ha! No, really. Both the religious and secular Jews see this as a great opportunity to tip the bottle in celebration. LeChi'im! (to life!) The above statement about getting drunk is actually an adaptation of a discussion found in the Rabbinical writings. The particular Rabbi who made this statement was probably speaking hyperbole, but the clear injunction is to imbibe a great deal of alcohol in the feasting.Although for the kids its probably exciting because when the story of Esther is read (the Magilla), every time Haman is mentioned the whole crowd boos or uses their noise makers to make a racket. The costumes are fun too. Actually they have a lot of activities for kids, but all I hear about is the parties advertised around the university.
What I find the most interesting is that Jerusalem celebrates on Monday, while other cities celebrate on Sunday. Why? For the answer I am going to have to send you to Wikipedia. Its complicated, isn't it?
A good blog post about Purim is this one. So Tel Aviv!
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3 comments:
"but the most striking features of the home celebration are the licence, indeed encouragement, to drink to the point of oblivion, and riotous carnival atmosphere, with the wearing of masks and fancy dress (even cross-dressing, forbidden in the Torah, is tolerated)." Penguin Dictionary of Judaism "Purim".
I didn't know Esther and Queen Elizabeth had the same favorite clothing designer!
Ha! Good one Michele.
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