Purim!
Last week I had the chance to celebrate the Jewish festival known a Purim. This is a very loud and happy time that unfolds in synagogues around the world. The best thing about this day is not the fact that you can dress up in costumes (I did not) or the fact that you can get very loud, rather the true joy is that you COMMANDED to drink heavily! I love this. But before any of that could happen there are the informal formalities of the Purim service.
Purim is a festival celebrating the Jews escaping certain death while in Persia and the story is told in the biblical book of Esther.
In the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on its thirteenth day ... on the day that the enemies of the Jews were expected to prevail over them, it was turned about: the Jews prevailed over their adversaries. - Esther 9:1
Got that? Good. The book of Esther is read aloud at the Purim service and everyone gets loud and nutty while it's being done. Esther was said to be a hot Jewish babe who was pimped out by her cousin Mordecai to the King of Persia who dug her more than the other babes in his harem. She became queen. There was a hitch; the king (Ahasuers) did NOT know that she was Jewish. Save that for later, it's important.
A jackass named Haman, who was an adviser to the king, got pissy because Esther's cousin Mordecai wouldn't bow to him. Well, that was enough to send this insecure prick over the edge and vowing to kill every Jew in sight and beyond. The king left the fate of the Jews up to Haman since he so keen on this undertaking. But remember our friend Esther is with the king and is a secret Jew of sorts. Her cousin convinced her to talk to the king and smooth this out. You know, use his kingly powers to calm this Haman guy down a bit. She succeeded (at great risk to her safety) and Haman was hung by the neck until dead with the noose set aside for Mordecai.
Ah, the irony!!!!
As this harrowing tale is being read, we are all given noise makers to cheer whenever Esther is mentioned and boo whenever Haman is mentioned. Below is an illustration of the festivities.
The Rabbi dressed as Dumbledore from Harry Potter fame begins the reading.
Me holding the Purim service book containing the Book of Esther and a small but powerful noise maker.
Children scurry about the aisles during the reading with great urgency but no sense of purpose.
To keep the children from drowning out the reading with the noise makers a DON'T WALK sign is put up signaling that it is NOT time to make noise. A WALK sign indicates that it's OK to make noise. The signals were mostly ignored and the sign broke halfway through the reading. The Rabbi then had to yell "YAY!" and "BOO!" to let us know when it was proper to get rowdy.
More children scurrying about aimlessly. I almost stepped on one while trying to snap this picture.
When it was all said and done, the screaming and noise making had left me with a splitting headache. Already knocked Silly from a very stressful day of work, I was not ready for this. Others who knew me and saw the bags under my eyes asked. "Are you going to be OK? It's going to get really loud in her."
Yes it did, but it was fun. I did fulfill my heavy drinking commandment, but not until I was well rested. Next year I'll be more prepared.
Coming up.....
The drive.
Also....
How lovely is a woman with long red hair?
And...
Are women more ready to rumble than men?
18 PEOPLE HAVE UNLOADED:
I like the Rabbi dressed as Dumbledore.
Why didn't you dress up? If you had, what would it have been?
Any hottie Esther wannabes at the service?
"when it was proper to get rowdy" talk about paradoxes and contradictions.
that first picture is rather curious...an effect of the cause you describe?
"the king (Ahasuers) did know that she was Jewish."
did you leave a "NOT" out of that sentence by any chance?
saadia - Nope no Esther wannabes there. No time for a costume.
sj - Isn't this true of all organized religions?
Johnb - People get nutty on this day. That was a shot taken from the festival in Israel that I found on the net.
nurse - :-O KEEN EYE! I did mistakenly leave a NOT out of that sentence and it has since been corrected. THANK YOU! :-)
This is new to me. The Jews I used to hang with never got into this part. I feel like I'm missing out on something here.
This all looks fun. I didn't know it could be like that.
Thanks for opening up my eyes.
hand to g-d this is my favorite Jewish Holiday.
This is something that I believe I would enjoy. Thanks for sharing.
Sounds like a great celebration!
I don't know why I'm curious about this-but do you always refrain from dressing in costume or is it just something you didn't do this year?
Urban- Glad to show you another side to the tribe. They are not rollin' the right way if they ain't down with Purim. You just can't let this Holiday pass by. It's good stuff. What's the matter with them? LOL!
Meleah - YES! How can you NOT love this? It just spirals out of control and for the better.
Marsha - I think you would LOVE this holiday. I think everyone would just for the spectacle regardless of your religious background.
Leah - I'm usually so over scheduled that the costume thing becomes an afterthought or an inconvenience so I just show up sans costume. also I always felt it was more for the kids but as you can see in the top photo, adults get in on the action too. That picture was from Israel and I can imagine it must get like Mardi Gras over there.
Sounded like fun!
I've never heard of anything where one is, "...COMMANDED to drink heavily."
Sadly, I would do so well there.
Never knew Purim was so much fun! The Rabbi dressed as Dumbledore seems like a pretty cool dude. Thanks for sharing this wonderful celebration!
Maritza - Was fun indeed.
Huckdoll - I can't argue with a command like this. You're expected t get drunk. I think you'd do great at this holiday.
Leon - You're very welcome my friend. Yes my Rabbi is a really cool guy and he's really down to earth. This was a great celebration indeed.
Fun Facts:
The '91 Gulf War ended on Purim, which meant no more missiles on Tel Aviv. That was a good day.
That was my senior year in school. I dressed like a woman. I was in charge of looking after everyone's gas masks that day (the celebrations in school were a few days before Purim). I went home instead. I was caught and my mom was summoned. She was told by the school principal that I would never amount to anything if I continued on this path.
The Hamantashen cookies are called Haman Ears in Hebrew.
People - That was a very good day indeed! And I did not know about it being called Haman Ears. LOL! Those things are damn tasty. You're mom was just a nervous nelly. You have become a great blogger and a man among men. You also likely made for a sorry drag queen but that's a good thing.
apropo end of the scuds on israel.. my mum kicked my ass out of here to australia on the 15 of jan - 48 hours before the war erupted.. i was 15 back then..
but i remember learning over purim that the war had ended and i was sooo happy to be going home.. was kind of like a re-enactment..
Lirun - You and People have all these profound stories and what not to go with Purim I just drank the next day. LOL! I gotta save the world or something next Purim while wearing a Spiderman costume. :-)
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