Purim Carnival

[fruzicle]

Late this afternoon, as the sun winds down on another long day, I will rustle up my mad scientist costume, and head out the door to a crazy party. I will dress in my unhinged lab worker outfit with its vibrant turquoise, curly-haired wig, and of course my acid-eaten white lab coat. It used to be white, but years of biochemical research has turned it into a holey version of its former self, now largely stained across large parts a rusty brown. It looks like nothing so much as bad swiss cheese.

It's Purim, probably the second favorite holiday of Jewish children everywhere. Like a religiously ordained Halloween redux, kids pour out of their houses dressed to their hearts' delight. But why? Purim is a joyous holiday, celebrating the success of a beautiful Jewish Queen and her cousin outwitting the machinations of an evil government official and the king he served. The king and his prime minister were conspiring to wipe out all the Jewish residents of their nation, even the queen. (Surprise, surprise.) It is therefore appropriate to dress as a lovely queen, or her innocent king. More popular yet would be dressing like the thoroughly evil villain, Haman. But let's face it, if you loved dressing up as Batman for Halloween, or an astronaut, or a duck, you'll probably do it again for Purim.

Tonight we will all make a point of having fun. Families will stroll about the carnival trying different crafts and activities. There will be games. I'm sure someone will lead the kids in making noisemakers. In my crazy lab worker get-up, I will share some scientific entertainment. I will be offering the little kings, queens, and Batmans a dry, white powder and asking them to guess what will happen when they add a small amount of water to it. Amazingly, it will expand and turn into snow! But shhh!, Don't tell them yet. The surprise is part of the fun. And what will happen when they choose a different liquid to add to the powder? Salty water, perhaps. Or cola? The kids will learn that scientific exploration is also fun.

The sunset will glow yellow, red, and peach. It will fade to dove gray and then dim to that vibrant sapphire blue that heralds the transformation into the mystery of night. In this blue hour, we will head in to listen to a story.

We will cheer for the good guys. We will boo at the bad guy. At his name, people will shake their noisemakers and stomp their feet and make so much noise that no one will ever hear the bad guy's name again. Ever. (Until, of course, we tell the story again.)

Once upon a time, perhaps 366 BCE, (but who's counting?), there was a king who ruled Persia named Akhashverosh. He was the ultimate party animal. He once had an 180-day festival that he topped off with a seven-day banquet. By this time he was quite inebriated, and so thought it wise to insist his wife Vashti dance naked in front of all his friends. (When children are listening, the naked part is sometimes glossed over.) She wasn't having it, so the king banished her from his sight forever.

When he got over his incredible hangover, he realized he no longer had a queen. The solution to this problem was obvious: hold a contest.

There was an old jew in the town named Mordechai and Mordechai had a cousin named Esther who was beautiful and of the right age. Mordechai urged Esther to enter the contest, but to keep her mouth shut about the fact that she was Jewish. I guess he kind of knew that was important.

The thing is, Mordechai was having trouble with the king's prime minister, Haman. This prime minister was an obnoxious dude who continually got bent out of shape when Mordechai refused to bow to him when Haman passed by. Being an observant Jew, Mordechai believed that he should not bow to anyone but God. So it was that Esther entered the contest, but never mentioned that she was related to that unbowing Mordechai guy.

Of course, there wouldn't be anything more to the story if Esther hadn't been the one the king found most beautiful of all. So they were wed.

Mordechai and Esther continued to communicate. At one point Mordechai learned of a plot set by two eunuchs to assassinate the king. He shared this with Esther, who then shared it with the king. (Kids don't get to hear the part about eunuchs, either. Daddy, what's a eunuch?) The eunuchs were hanged, and obviously, this further endeared Esther to the king. But the report languished, hidden away in government records.

Now this story also wouldn't be any good without a villain, now would it? And that bad guy was Haman, the prime minister. Haman, in his wisdom, decided that thorn in his side, Mordechai, should be eliminated. Heck, while they were at it, they should get rid of everybody like him. It was decreed that ALL the Jews should be wiped out. (Hmmm, have we heard that story before? Maybe now you're beginning to understand why this story has universal appeal)

Upon hearing of the decree, Mordechai realized it was time to make good use of his ace in the hole, Esther. He urged her to have a word with the king, who still didn't realize that his queen, whom he loved, would also fall victim to the purge. Esther was understandably reluctant to request an audience with the king, as doing so without an invitation from the king could legally be reason to punish her by death.

Mordechai encouraged her, saying, "If you persist in remaining silent at such a time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but both you and the house of your father will perish. Who knows, maybe you have come to the throne for just a time as this."  No pressure.

To prepare for this request, Esther fasted for three days, as did all the other Jews in the city.

Fortunately, when the king saw her, he stretched out his golden scepter and she placed her hand upon it. (Freudians, have at it!) Her request was simple: she invited the king and Haman to a private banquet. At that time, she then invited them both to a second banquet.  This was all it took to thoroughly inflate Haman's already burgeoning ego.

However, the next morning, Haman once again passed by Mordechai, who, true to form, once again did not bow to him. Enraged, Haman ordered that insect, Mordechai, be hanged the very next morning. The gallows were set up.

As it turned out, that night the king suffered a bout of insomnia. To while away the time, he had the court chronicles read to him. (And here all this time you simply try to count sheep!) He was very intrigued about one particular story about a guy named Mordechai who was instrumental in foiling the assassination plot involving the eunuchs. The very next morning, he called on Haman to ask what should be done for a man deserving great honor.

Haman, (who probably thinks this song is about him), suggested that the man be carried, dressed in the king's own clothing, on one of the king's horses through town, with an attendant shouting, "This is how the king treats those he wishes to honor!"

Oops. Haman guessed wrong. He, himself, got the job of leading Mordechai through town on the king's horse. It was Haman who was made to shout the proclamation honoring Mordechai.

But, there was still the second banquet to attend. At this one, Esther revealed that she was Jewish and that her people were doomed to be slaughtered. The king enraged, left the room, according to some sources, to relieve himself. Haman, seeing the king's angry reaction, fell to Esther's couch to plead for his life. Then things got even worse. The king returned and saw Haman on Esther's couch. He assumed that Haman was in the process of trying to seduce his queen.

Haman himself was sent to the very gallows he had set up for Mordechai. Mordechai was then made Prime Minister.

Though the king didn't feel he could reverse his decree, his new prime minister Mordechai was able to issue a decree that the Jews could defend themselves. The pre-ordained date of slaughter arrived, but the Jews got the upper hand and managed to (allegedly) kill 75,000 of their assailants. And, not to be undone, they also were able to kill Haman's ten sons. Twice. Once on the battlefield, and once again by public hanging.

The End

Like the apparent miracle of dry powder turning to snow, the miracle of being saved from certain doom is captivating. The story never grows old.

In the northern hemisphere, Purim is celebrated every spring. Though the story is widely believed to be entirely fictional, it may actually be a reworking of ancient full-moon spring festivities. In fact, the names Esther and Mordechai are suspiciously similar to the names of the ancient Babylonian goddess of love and fertility, Ishtar, and a creator god named Marduk.The story resonates with Jews who have had it up to here with being at the receiving end of so much hatred and discrimination. How may times has a powerful leader decreed that their problems will be solved if they only rid themselves of Jews? How satisfying is it to hear of the Bad Guy's ultimate embarrassing fall from grace.

It's like the ultimate costume party celebrating the win of the hometown team, with a fair amount of face-rubbing-in-the-dirt of the enemy. How satisfying is that?

Comments

[rayaso.livejournal.com]

You did an excellent job with both parts of this. The Purim carnival sounds like a lot of fun, and true or not, the Esther story makes for good reading.

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

Yes, proof that fantastical stories of deceit, cunning, love, and conspiracy did not start with Hollywood!

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

I remember the Purim carnival from our kids' Jewish daycare (we were one of the few non-Jewish families there). I liked the retelling of the story-- including the king's epic hangover and ensuing queenlessness, and the parts often omitted for children. Funny and yet true to the point.

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

Manny morals in that story!

[messygorgeous.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful tale, and wonderfully retold! Your humorous asides had me smiling throughout!

So, I was raised Catholic in a small town in the South and wasn't familiar with the story behind Purim. I live in a more diverse area here now. I've already started a multicultural program in my library system, but as my own form of protest, with everything happening politically, I've made it my goal this year to have many more culturally inclusive events at my library. What fun a Purim carnival would be for my families!

There is so much fear of other religions. I want people to open their eyes to the threads that make us all the same.

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the positive comments!

Ask around at local synagogues or Chabad organizations for help with a Purim program. They would probably love to help you out. At the elementary school where I used to teach, a very entertaining rabbi came in and told the Esther story. Every time he mentioned a different character, he would quickly switch hats. As it sometimes happens that all three main characters are mentioned in the same sentence, the hat changing schtick often became hilarious. Plus, as the audience is instructed to react in a different way for each character, it's an extremely audience participatory activity, complete with noise making for the bad guy and oohing for the queen.

[adoptedwriter.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed learning about Purim! This was so well-explained. Love the humor too! (ya gotta have a few laughs! b/c the Bible is just way too serious! LOL)
I take it, the date for Purim may vary, depending on the moon cycle?

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

Purim is always on the 14th of the Hebrew month Adar. But, you are right, the date for Purim shifts for two reasons. Firstly, as you mentioned, the Jewish calendar is based upon the moon, thus it shifts in relation to our own calendar. A second reason for the shift is that there is even a leap month every two or three years. Some years there is one month Adar, in others, there are two. Conveniently, these are named Adar I and Adar II. In years with an Adar II, Purim will fall on the 14th of the second Adar. The formula for when Jewish holidays falls is rather complicated, and fortunately, somebody else has already figured it all out way ahead of time. I usually just google questions about dates. You are probably already aware that Rosh Hashana falls on different dates of the western calendar from year to year.

[eternal-ot.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed reading this and learning about Purim. Thanks for penning this :)

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! Thanks for reading.

[dmousey.livejournal.com]

Love the Purim story! Hugs and peace~~~

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[xlovebecomesher.livejournal.com]

I love Purim! My synagogue just had its Purim Carnival in which I ran the kiddie room and I love seeing the kids dressed up (there was a 3 year old dressed as the Metro!). Thank you for sharing!