Purim!

We celebrated Purim this year at Temple Chai. Purim is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from Haman’s plots to exterminate all of the Jews. His plan is foiled by Queen Esther and her cousin Mordechai, who ultimately save the Jews from destruction. One of the highlights of Purim is dressing up in costumes. Some attribute this tradition to the fact that Esther initially “masked” her Jewish identity. The kids much obliged this tradition and dressed up before we headed to the Temple. The first portion of our temple’s Purim celebration is the reading of the megillah (scroll). This is the Purim story and is typically read and preformed in a humorous and rowdy way. Our kids may still be a little young for this portion of the holiday as it was a little longer than we expected, but they were very good and we kept them pretty entertained. After the service, we headed outside to join a carnival full of bounce houses, pony rides, cake walks, throw a pie in the Rabbi’s face, and other traditional carnival games. It was pretty impressive and the kids really enjoyed the obstacle bounce house. They spent a majority of the time running through it and then they would get back in line to do it again and again. It was a fun morning for all!

Skyping with GG to wish her a Happy Purim!