Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

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“And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. ”

--Esther 8:18

Celebrating Purim in Jerusalem is a unique experience.
For those of you in the USA, let me try to capture the energy:

Imagine Halloween combined with New Year’s Eve and your local sports team winning the championship— inebriated, costumed individuals waving noisemakers and wandering the streets, shouting and cheering all night long.

(i.e., Par-taaaay!)

What is the story of Purim, briefly?

Queen Esther and her uncle Mordechai thwarted the murderous plot of the king’s advisor Haman, preventing him from murdering all the Jews of Persia!


They saved the proverbial day and everything worked out… for the Jews.

Not so much for Haman (he was hanged… and hanged well).
In fact, the traditional Purim cookie is called “the ear of Haman”—it’s a triangle of dough with fruit in the middle.

(Ahem)

It makes as much sense as remembering the birth of Jesus with a fruitcake.

But in Jerusalem Purim is a happy, whiskey-soaked celebration!

In fact, at the end of the story, not only were all the Jews safe to live in Persia and its provinces, but other people converted to Judaism because they FEARED the Jews! As well they should have, since the Jews actually killed over 75,000 of their enemies (9:5,6 &16).
Yikes!
It was like the Inquisition … but the exact opposite.

So… how did I celebrate Purim?

I listened to rabbinical students read the scroll (megillah) of Esther in a tavern called “Yankees Pub”, I booed whenever Haman’s name was mentioned (as is the Jewish custom), I ate pizza and drank too much ouzo (as is my custom) and then I partied at a gay bar, where my wife (dressed as Bunnicula, the vampire bunny of children’s literature) danced with a Carmen Miranda-impersonator who had more chest hair than Chewbacca.

Good times!

Masks, booze, dancing and cookies!

Purim— when everyone is (at least) a little gay!

“…the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day.”
--Esther 8:17


“When you're with the Flintstones
you'll have a yabba dabba doo time.
A dabba doo time.
You'll have a gay old time.”

-- Hanna-Barbera’s Flintstones theme song
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