Purim, St. Patrick's Day, and Halloween

Moshav Tal Shachar in the Sorek Valley

There are two English language daily newspapers in Israel, The Jerusalem Post and Haaretz. I typically read The Jerusalem Post, while it is the more conservative newspaper, it has items of local interest. The Friday newspaper is required reading since it contains the events for the coming week as well as feature magazines. The paper isn’t published on Saturdays. Think of the Friday paper as equivalent to the Sunday newspaper in the United States.

In last Friday’s newspaper there was an advertisement for the Blue Hole, a local bar. At the top of the advertisement was the text: “Purim vs. St. Patrick’s Day.” The advertisement then went on to describe events taking place in the bar for these two holidays.

Purim Old City

Purim (the Jewish holiday which “commemorates the miraculous deliverance of the Jews of Persia as told in the Scroll of Esther” from: http://www.csuohio.edu/artgallery/2000-2001/JewishRitualArt/essays/glossary.htm) seems to have morphed into Israel’s version of Halloween. For the past week we have seen children and adults dressed in costumes parading around the city. There is also a custom here where people exchange baskets of edible items (candy, wine, bread – anything as long as there are two items and both are edible). School was open on Sunday (remember the work week here is Sunday through Thursday) for half-a-day so children could attend in costume. Monday through Wednesday schools were closed, on Wednesday the university as well as governmental offices were closed, most businesses appeared to be open.

Purim in the Old City

Purim in Jerusalem

The costumes ranged from store bought – power rangers, superman, batman – to home made – playing cards, Buzz Lightyear, angels. Since there are many people on the street in Jerusalem who dress in ritual or traditional garb, at times I had difficulty discerning whether an individual was celebrating Purim or simply on the way to work. (“Hey, was that guy a monk with a fez or was that someone in a Purim costume?” “Hey, was that a real angel or someone in a Purim costume?”)

Purim in Jerusalem

How many people are in costumes?


You are forgiven

The vendors in the Old City are very smart and will try to entice tourists in any way possible. We were walking up one of the streets, in front of us was a group of American tourists. A vendor hawking post cards said to the tourists, “Obama!” The woman in front of me said, “I didn’t vote for him but…” “You are forgiven!” I said as I walked by without stopping. It seemed like an appropriate comment for the Old City.

Randy at Moshav Tal Shachar in the Sorek Valley