My Journey Through Israel: Hag Purim!

Purim in Israel is one big party. It is a much bigger deal here in Israel than in the United States, but it is not a religious holiday. Most Jewish holidays are filled with rules and regulations associated with religion, but Purim is a secular holiday centered around 4 mitzvot. The first is to read the megillah and make lots of noise (especially when the name Haman comes up). The 2^nd is to send gifts of food (mishloach manot) to your friends (its Jewish holiday- of course there is food involved). The 3^rd is to give to the poor. Last but not least is to eat a festive Purim meal and (if of age) to drink until you can’t remember. In addition to these mitzvots, the holiday is like one big costume party and carnival in one. People gather together and have carnivals or parties where everyone dresses up in costumes.

These are the basics of the holiday, but Israel makes it even bigger, especially with the kids in the schools. First I should mention that although Purim itself is only a day, and in reality it’s a week, the whole month of Adar is called Chodesh Tov, which means good month. The whole month is celebrated throughout Israel as the happy month with events leading up to Purim.

So what are the signs that Purim is approaching, happening, or recently happened in Beit Shean? The answer: fireworks being shot all day and night, tons and tons of makeup on all the kids, people wearing costumes, pajamas or anything they wouldn’t normally wear, kids not really doing any schoolwork, people giving out mishloach manot, and last but not least everyone’s attitude is just a little bit happier and goofy.

All of these are things we all have seen this past month/week, or are even still currently seeing here in Beit Shean.

The fireworks. I don’t know how common this is among Israel in general, since in Jerusalem for BFL I didn’t hear a single one, but here in Beit Shean people shoot them off all day and night. All month long we have had a soundtrack to our lives from these firecrackers going off. On skype it sounds like a bomb or gun is being shot outside, which always gives people a scare. But seriously people are still shooting them off now, even though Purim is technically over. They can be highly annoying especially when they are right next to the apartment, but I suppose I appreciate the fact that everyone wants to celebrate all month long.

The makeup. Lunchtime has now officially been replaced at many of our schools as makeup time. I‘m not talking about a bit of lip-gloss and mascara- I mean white faces, red cheeks, brightly colored eye shadow, and bright red lips. The girls are the ones putting on most of the makeup, although I have seen a few boys join in the party. All the kids though, boys and girls, and have done a less extreme version by having stuff painted on their faces at school, whether it’s a heart, flower, smiley face, or full on Spiderman. The kids may look a bit ridiculous at times, but it’s cute and they’re having fun, which is really all that matters.

The costumes. Every school had a party where all the kids dressed up as the costume of their choice. This is normal and expected, what wasn’t so expected was the week leading up to Purim, where kids wore pajamas (for upside down day), kids wearing crazy hats, underwear on their heads, and other silly mini-costumes if you will to get the Purim spirit. It reminded me a lot of homecoming week from high school. Mamash Cef!

School. Due to the costumes, the kids’ carefree attitude, the teachers going with the holiday spirit, the kids basically did not work for the week of Purim and the week preceding. It was like a big in school vacation for the kids.

Mishloach Manot. Being beloved members of the community and volunteers, we are a popular target for lots of mishloach manot. We received our fill of bamba, chips, chocolate, and other junk food. It was also fun to give out yummy treats to people that we liked around Beit Shean. In addition on Sunday, I am pretty sure every single family in town had a barbeque. The whole town smelled like hamburgers and hot dogs, and every family was sitting outside enjoying each other’s company and the beautiful sunshine.

Lastly, the holiday spirit is very present in the Beit Shean community. With a holiday that to me feels like a combination of Hanukkah and Halloween in the US, it’s hard not to feel the joy and the air. The kids are crazier than normal, everyone is more relaxed and goofy, and because of this everyone is a bit nicer to each other. It was a very happy month, filled with lots of crazy fun and weird abnormalities- but I think that’s kind of the point of Purim to just celebrate and have fun. Finally a Jewish holiday that doesn’t have any guilt! =)