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cellioPurim sameach (happy Purim)!
I went to my congregation's megillah reading tonight. I haven't been there in several years; the last time it was a real zoo (not in the good way), but that was also one change of rabbis ago, so I went. It was fun, though the kids were a little too wild (no surprise there).
There were a lot more people than I expected -- probably 300, maybe more. They had made a special booklet (siddur and songs; I don't think megillah text), but they ran out before I got there. I'm fluent with a siddur, so I didn't have problems with the service part (just using the regular weekday book), and anyway they made that as brief as they could.
There were a lot more people -- including a lot more adults -- in costume, or at least silly hats, than I expected. Last time most of the costumes were on kids, to the point where I would have felt self-conscious. Tonight that would have been fine, though. Before next year I would like to acquire a large silly hat, though I don't know what (or where one shops for large silly hats).
The associate rabbi was a hoot. He showed up in black suit, long white beard, full talit, black hat... and you have to understand that he can't be much more than about 35, so this was funny.
There were four readers for the megillah, trading off. They read mostly in English but started by chanting the opening paragraphs in the special megillah trope (well, I assume that's what it was, since I'd never heard that before), and they read some key passages in Hebrew along with the English. Most of the readers were doing over-the-top dramatic readings, which worked well. There were some bits of adult humor that I appreciated and that would have sailed right over the kids, so this was not geared just toward them.
During the megillah reading one is supposed to make noise when Haman's name is mentioned (to blot it out). Kids are really great at noise; they're not so great at stopping, and don't seem to grok that they'll get better impact if it's not one continuous din. The last time I went that was really horrid (and was the reason I didn't go back for a while); this time the rabbis were making large "cut" gestures to try to cut it off, a trick I saw work well at another congregation and had shared. Our leaders were not as successful with it, but it was way better than it had been. They'll have to work on the parents (some of whom were doing nothing to guide their kids in this).
Nobody local who I know (or, at least, who would invite me) does a big day-of-Purim feast like![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
osewalrus and his friends do, but I'll try to have a nice lunch tomorrow. :-) In two years Purim will again be on a Sunday, and I'd like to see if I can find critical mass in my congregation for a party. (Last year it was on a Sunday and I cooked an SCA event for it. That was fun too.)
I went to my congregation's megillah reading tonight. I haven't been there in several years; the last time it was a real zoo (not in the good way), but that was also one change of rabbis ago, so I went. It was fun, though the kids were a little too wild (no surprise there).
There were a lot more people than I expected -- probably 300, maybe more. They had made a special booklet (siddur and songs; I don't think megillah text), but they ran out before I got there. I'm fluent with a siddur, so I didn't have problems with the service part (just using the regular weekday book), and anyway they made that as brief as they could.
There were a lot more people -- including a lot more adults -- in costume, or at least silly hats, than I expected. Last time most of the costumes were on kids, to the point where I would have felt self-conscious. Tonight that would have been fine, though. Before next year I would like to acquire a large silly hat, though I don't know what (or where one shops for large silly hats).
The associate rabbi was a hoot. He showed up in black suit, long white beard, full talit, black hat... and you have to understand that he can't be much more than about 35, so this was funny.
There were four readers for the megillah, trading off. They read mostly in English but started by chanting the opening paragraphs in the special megillah trope (well, I assume that's what it was, since I'd never heard that before), and they read some key passages in Hebrew along with the English. Most of the readers were doing over-the-top dramatic readings, which worked well. There were some bits of adult humor that I appreciated and that would have sailed right over the kids, so this was not geared just toward them.
During the megillah reading one is supposed to make noise when Haman's name is mentioned (to blot it out). Kids are really great at noise; they're not so great at stopping, and don't seem to grok that they'll get better impact if it's not one continuous din. The last time I went that was really horrid (and was the reason I didn't go back for a while); this time the rabbis were making large "cut" gestures to try to cut it off, a trick I saw work well at another congregation and had shared. Our leaders were not as successful with it, but it was way better than it had been. They'll have to work on the parents (some of whom were doing nothing to guide their kids in this).
Nobody local who I know (or, at least, who would invite me) does a big day-of-Purim feast like
osewalrus and his friends do, but I'll try to have a nice lunch tomorrow. :-) In two years Purim will again be on a Sunday, and I'd like to see if I can find critical mass in my congregation for a party. (Last year it was on a Sunday and I cooked an SCA event for it. That was fun too.)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-23 01:53 am (UTC)(especially since I don't, um, technically know the story behind them).
The puppets are presumably to liven up a Pesach seder, especially if there are kids. I'm told they're pretty popular. (Pesach = story of exodus from Egypt.) Purim is the holiday around the book of Esther.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-23 05:05 am (UTC)I'll have to google Ester. I'm pretty far out of the religion loop at this point (opting for the far more disorganized religion of Kimism). But I can imagine the puppets are popular. I mean, who *wouldn't* want blood, boils, lice, and locust finger puppets? (And they're certainly effective as a learning tool -- I've seen the things once and could probably come darn close to naming all ten. Okay, I just tried it, and I came up with ten, but I'm a little unsure of the crazy cow plague. I got the rest, though.)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-23 11:02 pm (UTC)I mean, who *wouldn't* want blood, boils, lice, and locust finger puppets?
And frogs! I'll bet the frogs are fun!
How do they represent the death of the first-born -- a little death guy with scythe or something?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-25 04:15 am (UTC)http://www.judaism.com/gif-bk/56902a.gif