This past weekend was Purim. Purim is much like Mardi Gras and Halloween rolled into one. Really, Purim commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination. The story is told in the book of Esther, who saved the Jewish people (along with her cousin Mordechai) by revealing to the King of Persia that Haman (advisor to the King) was planning to exterminate all the Jews. Haman was hanged, the Jewish people were saved and Esther was a heroine.
The Megillah (the book of Esther) reading is a raucous event. Every time Haman's name is mentioned, people make noise to drown it out. We decided to go to a Megillah reading in Gan Ha'em, one of Haifa's large parks. The park was completely full of kids (and adults) in all kinds of costumes. There were games to play, food vendors, and live music.
The reading was supposed to be at 10:00, but no one showed up because the announcement was made over loud music. They ended up reading just a few verses on the stage and we thought, "that's it?" We decided to wander around a bit and after a few minutes, stumbled upon the same man reading the Megillah to a handful of people on some benches in the park. There were all sorts of things going on around him (a drum circle, a carousel with music, kids playing hopscotch, etc.), but somehow he managed to read the entire scroll through all the chaos.
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| Megillah reading in Gan Ha'em |
Halfway through we were handed a tambourine by a women dressed as "Super Storm Sandy". Turns out, Sandy (her real name) and her husband Issac live right next to the park. When the reading was over, they invited us for coffee and how could we refuse?
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| Jason and his tambourine |
That evening we were invited to a special Purim dinner, or Se'udah, at our friend Jeff's house. Jeff is one of the other Fulbrighters and he and his wife Abby and son Rafi live in Haifa as well. We had a great time and it was a great way to end the holiday.
In the spirit of the Purim tradition, we also attended a party that a friend was hosting in a village called Ein Hod (about 30 minutes outside of Haifa). This involved drinking, crazy costumes, and a midnight bus ride back to Haifa. If you want to know more, you'll just have to ask ;)
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