Israel parties during annual Purim celebrations
For any unassuming American, looking at an Israeli street during the holiday of Purim would be nearly indistinguishable from a Halloween party in the United States, that is except for the smell of falafel wafting above the heads of costume-clad adults and children looking on as street performers roam about and music from a concert reaches the furthest corners of the city. It doesn’t matter if you know what you’re looking at or not, one thing is for certain: Purim is a holiday for party-goers. Technically, the Jewish holiday commemorates the story of Esther and her uncle Mordecai, who convinced Esther to sway King Ahasuerus to not proceed with the plan presented by his adviser Haman to kill all of the Jews in the land. Purim is a celebration of a triumph over anti-Semitism. In today’s world, it has become an opportunity to have a good time.
