road trip

[cellio]

Gail (Ts'vee'a) agreed to go with me to Yaakov's (in DC) for Purim (I especially need a driver), so I get to spend that holiday with people who know how to celebrate it. Woo hoo! (I had opined to Yaakov that I had trouble getting into Purim, and he opined that I wasn't spending it with the right people. So now he gets to show me how good it can be.)

It's on a Tuesday this year. We're going to swoop in late Monday (after work), attend the morning megillah reading there, party, sober up, and drive back Tuesday night.

Whee!

Comments

[saintlex.livejournal.com]

Oh! Purim is SO much fun!!!

I am ashamed to say that I don't even know when it is this year...is it very soon?

[fiannaharpar.livejournal.com]

That sounds like so much fun! I hope that y'all enjoy yourselves. Purim sounds like such a wonderful celebration (I love happy celebrations).

[cellio]

Not for a while yet. February 26.

I'm looking forward to it. I have yet to experience a fun Purim. At my congregation, things are *so* oriented toward families with kids that single people without kids are really left out in the cold. This is one of two holidays (the other is Simchat Torah) where I won't go to my own congregation any more because for me it makes a happy occasion unhappy.

[cellio]

I don't know where I heard this, but I like the following summary: They tried to kill us; we won; let's eat. :-)

Re:

[saintlex.livejournal.com]

I understand. I didn't think Purim was all that fun until I went off to college. ;)

Unfortunately I don't even have a congregation out here yet, so I will probably be skipping out on the holiday this year unless I get my butt in gear and try to seek one out. And that has been slow in happening since I don't like to go to services alone, and have no Jewish friends around here.

[cellio]

Yeah, it can be hard to find a congregation (especially in a new city) if you don't have friends who can help you out. I fond my congregation (my first) by randomly going to services at different places to see what the options were like. It takes a certain degree of perseverence to do that, though. The people at this place were very friendly and outgoing, and that definitely contributed to my decision to join there. And it wasn't just welcoming the newcomer for a week or two; I showed up in the summer, and the following year two different people checked to make sure I had a place to go for the seders for Pesach. I also got other random offers of hospitality, at least until I moved into the city and no longer needed, say, a place to rest on Yom Kippur afternoon.

[goljerp]

No, no, no, that's the Passover Seder:

We were slaves in Egypt, now we're free, let's eat.

Purim Should be: They tried to kill us; we won; let's drink.

:-)

Jewish Holiday Summary

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

I've always heard the "they tried to kill us, we won, let's eat" as a summary for any Jewish Holiday... most holidays can be summed up that way. But I definitely like the substitution..."let's drink" for Purim.

Coming to DC?

[sethcohen.livejournal.com]

If you're heading down this way, it'd be cool if you could join us, even if only for a little bit. 8^)

Re: Coming to DC?

[cellio]

Oh, duh! I completely forgot that you guys are in DC!

Ok, my DC geography is pretty lame. Yaakov is in Silver Spring. (I'm not even sure where exactly that is -- gotta look at a map.) Are you anywhere near there? Or are you on the completely opposite side of the beltway?

It'd be really cool if we could somehow coordinate for a visit with you folks on the way in or out.

It's probably time to take this to email. :-)

Re: Coming to DC?

[sethcohen.livejournal.com]

"Near" there? I *are* there! 8^) Yes, we should probably take this to email...

Re: Jewish Holiday Summary

[goljerp]

Well, there are several holidays like that to be sure. But I think that's an overgeneralization.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today, so I'm going to indulge myself and overanalyze the joke:

* Rosh Hashannah: Today is the birthday of the World, let's eat.
* Yom Kippur: We're sorry about the stuff we've done, let's eat after 25 hours of fasting
* Sukkot: Our ancestors wandered in the desert; let's eat in a sukkah.
* Shmini Atzeret: Our ancestors could never leave a good party; let's eat, possibly in the sukkah, although not necessarily.
* Simchat Torah: We're going back to the beginning of the Torah; let's drink.
* Hannukah: They tried to assimilate us, we won; let's eat.
* Tu B'shvat: Trees are really wild, dude, let's eat fruit and nuts.
* Purim: (already done)
* Passover: (already done)
* 9th of Av: Bad things always happen to us today; let's not eat.
* Shavuot: Our ancestors got the torah; let's eat dairy.