The Merry Holiday of Purim II
As I mentioned yesterday, today is Purim in Jerusalem, otherwise known as Shushan Purim. It is called Shushan Purim because the Jews in Shushan had an extra day to vanquish their enemies, thus postponing the day of celebration from the fourteenth to the fifteenth of the month of Adar. That's fine and dandy, says I, but what about Jerusalem? It's not called Jerusalem Purim, is it? I discovered the answer in the gmara (Tractate Megillah), where the sages did not think it "fair" for Shushan to be granted special priveleges, but not Jerusalem. So they decided that all cities with walls from the time of Joshua (the Joshua part, by the way, is how they get a Pentateuchal tie to the holiday; it's somewhere in Deuteronomy) will celebrate Purim on the fifteenth. Walled cities from the time of Joshua-- Jericho, Shushan, and-- Jerusalem!
The upshot of all that is that I had to celebrate two days of Purim. I went to my fourth Megillah reading, this one at a shtieblach. I'm not quite sure what a shtieblach is, but I think it was Chasidic. While I'm on the topic of multiple Megillah readings, let me point out how different they all were. The first, read by AM at yeshiva on the night of the fourteenth, was fun and frolicky, with everyone in costume. The second, also read by AM at yeshiva the following morning, was business-like and brisk, as it was part of the morning Shacharit, but still lively. The third, by a rabbi at Ohr Sameach that night, was quick and efficient, though not that fun. And the fourth, at the shtieblach, was superfast and boring; they did not even stop so we could make noise for Haman!
That day, Ariel and I went Seudah hopping, as we went from feast to feast, celebrating the holiday. I had enough celebrating after about two feasts, but we kept going. At one feast, the rabbis gave out money for answering Purim questions, but as the prize was between ten and fifty agorot a question, and as some semi-drunk students were very competitive for the reward, I chose not to play.
I realize that I probably did not capture fully the Purim experience, but I don't think I have anything else to write about the feasts other than there were a lot of them, and went on for a long time, hence precluding me from writing anything else. The last thing I can say is that people all over Jerusalem showed their love of the holiday by setting off firecrackers about every thirty seconds. A loud boom! went off at a seemingly regular pace, and just when you though there was a moment of quiet, some kids compensated with about twenty poppers.
After two long days, I am going to sleep. Later.
The upshot of all that is that I had to celebrate two days of Purim. I went to my fourth Megillah reading, this one at a shtieblach. I'm not quite sure what a shtieblach is, but I think it was Chasidic. While I'm on the topic of multiple Megillah readings, let me point out how different they all were. The first, read by AM at yeshiva on the night of the fourteenth, was fun and frolicky, with everyone in costume. The second, also read by AM at yeshiva the following morning, was business-like and brisk, as it was part of the morning Shacharit, but still lively. The third, by a rabbi at Ohr Sameach that night, was quick and efficient, though not that fun. And the fourth, at the shtieblach, was superfast and boring; they did not even stop so we could make noise for Haman!
That day, Ariel and I went Seudah hopping, as we went from feast to feast, celebrating the holiday. I had enough celebrating after about two feasts, but we kept going. At one feast, the rabbis gave out money for answering Purim questions, but as the prize was between ten and fifty agorot a question, and as some semi-drunk students were very competitive for the reward, I chose not to play.
I realize that I probably did not capture fully the Purim experience, but I don't think I have anything else to write about the feasts other than there were a lot of them, and went on for a long time, hence precluding me from writing anything else. The last thing I can say is that people all over Jerusalem showed their love of the holiday by setting off firecrackers about every thirty seconds. A loud boom! went off at a seemingly regular pace, and just when you though there was a moment of quiet, some kids compensated with about twenty poppers.
After two long days, I am going to sleep. Later.
posted by Yoni Bain | 12:44 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home