The Purim Manifesto of The People's Popular Purim Party
WALDOKS, MOSHE
The Purim Manifesto of the People's Popular Purim Party MOSHE WALDOKS On Purim we flip reality on its head. Like a reversible parka we pull Purim inside out. Creating the yang to the yin of Torah,...
...Purim teaches that our redemptive power lies beyond Passover...
...Warning: Do not observe this custom if you are driving.] The se'udah commences Purim afternoon...
...All Purim meals must be served on paper plates so that clearing the tables is a breeze...
...At our annual Purim se'udah (festive meal served on Purim afternoon) our host has accustomed us to frozen pineapple-coconut daiquiris of unknown octane...
...This state can thankfully be induced in a variety of marvelous ways: singing, dancing, eating and drinking...
...For on Purim we get a chance to redefine who we are not by the dictates of our external circumstance, but by the deeper yearnings of our hearts...
...No styrofoam, please...
...The recognition of Purim as an American-Jewish holiday will be a continually overflowing source of Jewish pride...
...It also commemorates the three-day communal fast undertaken by Queen Esther to win favor in King Ahasuerus' eyes...
...The power of Purim lies in its ability to redeem...
...On this holiday of masquerades and role reversals, we reveal the deeper sides of ourselves and we are permitted to conceal what is normally exposed...
...It is, rather, a time to indulge in a great slivovitz (plum brandy), a long-treasured bottle of Napoleon brandy or B&B, a lemon-marinated vodka or a splendid single-malt scotch (room temperature—never on the rocks...
...The common denominator of all these paths is being imbued with the spirit (or spirits) of your choice...
...The aim of the PPPP is that all Jewish families celebrate the Purim se'udah with the same communal feeling now reserved for the High Holidays...
...It's almost like a Schlossberg marrying a-Kennedy, but I digress...
...This provides an additional day for holiday preparation...
...This ominous secu-larity has been a very fruitful lure to myriad rabbinic interpretations throughout the centuries...
...They're so thick we eat them with a spoon...
...It's time for Purim to take center stage in the consciousness of American Jewry...
...There is still time to make Purim a central part of our American Jewish experience...
...And it is by feasting that Esther and Mordechai (Ishtar and Marduk to their close friends) choose to commemorate these events...
...Costumed bubbles and zaydes, face-painted nephews and nieces, accordion-playing neighbors and organ-grinding teenagers with monkeys on their backs will sit at-tables with flurries of Hamans, Esthers and Mordechais singing parodies of Kiddush (the sanctifica-tion over wine at the Sabbath meal) and Birkal Hamazon (grace after meals...
...It is customary in some communities to make a I'chaim (raise a glass) at every stop...
...It is customary to give at least three shekels (three $20 gold pieces will do) to at least three causes...
...This redemption is not from Mitzrayim (Egypt), but from our inhibitions, our maytzarim...
...The celebration of Purim will do much to preserve Jewish humor at its best...
...This festival meal symbolizes the centrality of mass consumption of food depicted in the megillah...
...Jewish humor is a powerful weapon of the spirit, and the best Jewish humor is found in the Purim shpeils (plays) and toyres (parodies) traditionally associated with the festival...
...L'Chaim...
...That is why some wise rabbinical wag, who no doubt was under the influence of many encounters with a slivovitz bottle, remarked that "When the messiah comes all of the Jewish holidays will disappear except for Purim...
...By the third chapter of the megillah (the megillah is read a second time on Purim day) we not only can't distinguish (ad shelo nay-dah) between cursing Haman (arur Hamari) and blessing Mordechai {baruch Mordechai) but even Uncle Irv is beginning to look cute in the "Sweet Charity" chemise and high-heel number he's wearing...
...Megillat Esther, the Scroll of Esther, is the inspiration for Purim...
...There, too, the Jews seem to be deeply involved in the political life of Shushan, the capital city...
...Creating the yang to the yin of Torah, providing the raucous background to the saga of the Jews, Purim revels in revelation of the hidden...
...It is at a meal that Esther will thwart Hainan's nefarious plot to kill the Jews...
...No matter what form yiddishkeit takes in the 21st century, it will be enriched if its Torah is highly peppered with Purim loyre...
...Fasting only enhances the effect of the Purim spirits that will be imbibed at sundown when the megillah is read for the first time...
...A Jewish humor that has at its core a deep attachment and regard for Jewish sources will prevail over the stereotypical, trite, antisemitic 'Jew jokes" that pass for Jewish humor today...
...All year we teach our children to be who they are but on Purim we ask them to be who they are not...
...This manifesto of the People's Popular Purim Party (PPPP) suggests our official Purim celebration follow the custom of a three-day observance that is current in the State of Israel...
...The success of Purim will ensure Jewish continuity at a time when the Jewish future is in jeopardy...
...The Purim story opens at a gigantic mishteh (feast) on the occasion of King Ahasuerus' royal anniversary...
...Try not to overeat Shabbat afternoon so that the spirit will move you when Purim arrives on Saturday night, March 6. Ta'anit Esther is a superb time to make sure that your community is observing the important tzedakah aspect of Purim, the matanot le'evyonim, presents to the poor and needy...
...The deep desire to fit into our host societies, on the one hand, and the deep desire to remain distinctive, on the other, is remarkably challenged by Purim...
...They are certainly acculturated enough that a nice Jewish girl named Esther (Hadassah or Myrtle) can marry the non-Jewish king...
...Megillat Esther also has the distinction of being the only book in the entire Tanach (Hebrew Bible) that makes no mention of the name of God...
...Erev Purim, or Ta'anit Esther (the Fast of Esther) is dedicated to preparing for Purim...
...But while Purim celebration is fueled by all manner of spirits, it is not a time for beer-guzzling...
...Purim is especially suited to the Americanjewish experience...
...We are obliged on Purim to perform all activities in a state of gadlut mohin (expanded consciousness...
...It is another parallel to our overly secular situation in America today...
...The first evening of Purim (Saturday night) is devoted to the reading of megillot and presentations of community Purim shpeils in a variety of settings and media...
...The events of the scroll take place entirely in the Diaspora in Persia...
...Maybe it's the fishnet stockings...
...It resides in our passions...
...Solos and duets, barbershop quartets harmonizing ancient Yiddish curses, Purim loyres offered and accepted or rejected...
...Purim lies within the unrelenting dichotomy of Jewish life today...
...Purim morning is a good time to recover from the night before by preparing the mishloach manot or shalach mones, the gifts of cake and wine we deliver to friends and family in the neighborhood...
...This year, 5753-1993, erev Purim falls on Shabbat, so Ta'anit Esther is moved back to Thursday, March 4 because fasting is prohibited on Friday and the Sabbath—except for Yom Kippur...
Vol. 18 • February 1993 • No. 1
