Purim sameyach

It’s true, I’m a Purim freak: I dress up every year, read the megilla at my synagogue and turn my house and family upside down preparing mishlochei manot and organizing a very-alcohol-heavy Purim Seudah for all my friends.
But thank goodness for Madonna, a real hero to the Jews, because if it weren’t for her no one outside Israel (and the religious Jews living elsewhere) would ever have heard of Esther. Talk about publicizing the miracle. But other than a vague idea that Esther is some sort of Jewish heroine, and you should trust me on this: no one knows about Purim – even most non-observant American Jews have never heard of Purim. Likewise, all those Purim words you might like to use when talking to friends and colleagues abroad are pretty nearly untranslatable. That said, you can use the following options when you are trying to talk about Purim to anyone who is either not Israeli or Orthodox.

• Purim = Jewish Halloween
• Raashan = Rattle
• Oznei Haman = Cookies
• Mishloach Manot = More cookies (or maybe fruit basket)
• Matanot Le’evyonim = Money
• Megilla = Bible scroll
• Seudah = Dinner

The bottom line is that it’s not Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur or Hanukkah, so you should probably just keep it in the family…

And yes, I’m just looking for every excuse to talk about Madonna right now 🙂

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