The question we will deal with today is, how do you celebrate the holidayof Purim during a war? So, some background for the unitiated. In our last blog we covered a bit of Greek history and mentioned the Persian Conquests. Cyrus the Great conquered the world during his reign, in the early 500’s BCE. This was 200 years before Alexander the Great, for historical perspective. The Jews had been exhiled after the destruction of the first Temple, and when Cyrus conquered the known world, he was a benevolent king, allowing Jews to return to Israel but also accommodating a large community in Persia. The story of the Book of Esther took place in the 5th century BCE under the rule of King Achashverosh, (who may be one of the Persian King Xerxes). Achashverosh’s Chief advisor, Haman, had a personal vendetta against Mordechai, who was a member of the King’s Court and the guardian of Esther, the Queen of Persia. To get back at Mordechai, Haman convinced the King to allow him to kill all the Jews of Persia on the 14th day of the month of Adar. When Mordechai learns of the plot, he appeals to Esther to take up the cause of her people to the King, though she had never let on that she was Jewish. Esther prays and fasts with all the Jews of the capital Shushan, and then tells the king about Haman. The plot is foiled, Haman is executed, and to this days Jewish communities celebrate the salvation on the 14th day of Adar, except in walled cities like Shushan was (today, pretty much only in Jerusalem) on the 15th of Adar. This took place last Saturday night through Sunday.
Considering Purim is generally a holiday of partying, this year posed a dilemma. On one hand, people are not in a partying mood with the war still every much a part of life. On the other hand, the relevance of the Purim Story, deliverance from the hand of ones who wish to destroy the Jewish Nation, as Hamas has vowed (note the similarity; I doubt it’s an accident) then some type of celebration seemed to be in order. Purim is a holiday when people, especially children, wear costumes. So, in the days prior to Purim, we saw a steady stream of children in elementary school and often their parents in the streets in costume. On Purim Day, there were people of all ages in the street in costume delivering Mishloach Manot, gifts of food to friends, and giving out gifts to the poor, which is a major part of the customs of the day.
The story of Esther is read in Synagogue in the evening and morning of Purim. After the evening reading, our synagogue, Young Israel of North Netanya, has a custom to put on a Purim Play (Purim Shpleil) which is an old European Custom. This was a very ompressince mix of music and comedy, lasting almost 90 minutes, especially considering the writers and actors were predominantly in the 60 to 80 range! Congratulations to the head writer Alan Gold, who has done this for years, wishing him many more Purim Shpiels.
Sunday after synagogue we went to Ariel and Gila’s house to see their kids in costume, and then drove them to friends for the Purim meal. We continued to Efrat to Nomi and Elan’s house, where they were hosting 3 other families and cooked up a storm! There was terrific food, lot’s of good wine and singing. The company was great and we enjoyed seeing the kids in costume and hoping for an end to the war and return of the hostages, with an ending like the story of Purim!
Monday was officially Purim in Jerusalem, but why waste a good holiday? Many children were off school both Sunday and Monday. While Bruce went off to the Children’s Hospital, in Ramat Gan, Barbara took Elisah, Ora and Adi to a Carnival in Tel Aviv, with lots of activities and clowns! Elisha even took part as a volunteer, and played his part with the clown really well!
Where do you get YOUR vegetables? Israel has a large agricultural industry for a few reasons: out of necessity, they have pioneered amazing ways to irrigate an arid land and creat perfect soil conditions in not exactly perfect circumstances. This is probably due to the fact that it was not so easy to import from the others in the neighborhood. Most cities have public markets where vendors sell all kinds of produce. Both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have made their markets much more upscale, as did Petach Tikva. Netanya has a real old fashioned market, with vendors screaming out prices, touting the freshness of their fruits and vegetables, herbs and spices, and anything else that you could possibly want! The past few Fridays have included the 15-20 minute walk to the Shuk (market) from our house, buying oodles of fresh strawberries, grapes, melons, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc….plus the prices are much better than the supermarket! A fun experience that everyone should try.
Welcome Debbie and Zev: Tuesday evening we met our friends Debbie and Zev from Riverdale (and Jerusalem) who have come back for a couple of months. We met them at Shifra and Jamil in Herzliah, just a few minutes walk from the train station, making it very convenient. It was great to see them and we hope they have a great stay here.
Speaking of friends, we also caught up with our friends Ruth and Itamar Maliach, who had lived in Montreal eons ago when our kids were in high school! They are doing really well, and we had fun sharing stories of travels, children and grandchildren.
We just changed the clock’s in Israel, 2 weeks after North America but at a similar time as many European countries. Shabbat is not starting so early, and we are hosting Gila, Ariel, Elisha, Ora and Adi, who at present are enjoying some childnre’s show on the computer. We’re looking forward to hanging out with them and especially special time with the kids!
Wishing you a Shabbat full of special times with family
Barbara and Bruce
Refuah Shlema to Shmuel Zev ben Rachel Ita
Refuah Shelma to Chaim Tzvi ben Shaindel
Happy Birthday Lori!
Welcome to our new great nephews, Elijah Henry (Elimelech Hanoch) and Issac Lev (Yitzchak Lev) born to Daniel and Brandon in Edmonton!
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