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Purim
My congregation didn't read the megillah last night; we had a Purim spiel (humorous play) instead, which I didn't go to. But a few years ago our rabbis instituted "Esther's banquet" for the adults after the spiel, with food and alcohol and study, and I always go to that. My horilka (apple/brandy/honey/spices, aged) is a big hit, and I really need to queue up some more before I run out. So that was fun and educational, as I expected.
Today was Thursday, the day I lead the morning minyan at another congregation. We established last week that I didn't need to do anything special; someone else was taking care of the megillah reading and that part of the service. This turns out to be the first time that I have heard the megillah all in Hebrew and chanted with the special trope; I'm used to reading, not chanting, and mostly English. I enjoyed this more-traditional experience. I also believe that being able to follow along in a small booklet was an essential part of that. (Follow along, because just listening to extended Hebrew is hard if you're not fluent, and small, because it needs to be held with one hand so the other hand is free to hold a noise-maker to blot out Haman's name.)
This may be the first time I've drunk vodka before 9AM. The "little something to help fulfill the mitzvah" was stronger than I was expecting.
My own congregation reads the megillah in the morning, so I felt obligated to go support that. (So I did hear the megillah twice like you're supposed to, but it wasn't the usual distribution in time.) This year our reading really clicked; different people took it in turns, in English (except Hebrew to open and close). The readers were all engaging with the story, not just reading words on a page, and that made a big difference for me. I got the insomnia chapter, which is a lot of fun. (Esther chapter 6; you can look it up.)
This may be the first time I've drunk scotch before noon.
Both services had exactly ten people present, so my redundant-seeming attendance helped make a minyan for each.
Now, on to Pesach!
Today was Thursday, the day I lead the morning minyan at another congregation. We established last week that I didn't need to do anything special; someone else was taking care of the megillah reading and that part of the service. This turns out to be the first time that I have heard the megillah all in Hebrew and chanted with the special trope; I'm used to reading, not chanting, and mostly English. I enjoyed this more-traditional experience. I also believe that being able to follow along in a small booklet was an essential part of that. (Follow along, because just listening to extended Hebrew is hard if you're not fluent, and small, because it needs to be held with one hand so the other hand is free to hold a noise-maker to blot out Haman's name.)
This may be the first time I've drunk vodka before 9AM. The "little something to help fulfill the mitzvah" was stronger than I was expecting.
My own congregation reads the megillah in the morning, so I felt obligated to go support that. (So I did hear the megillah twice like you're supposed to, but it wasn't the usual distribution in time.) This year our reading really clicked; different people took it in turns, in English (except Hebrew to open and close). The readers were all engaging with the story, not just reading words on a page, and that made a big difference for me. I got the insomnia chapter, which is a lot of fun. (Esther chapter 6; you can look it up.)
This may be the first time I've drunk scotch before noon.
Both services had exactly ten people present, so my redundant-seeming attendance helped make a minyan for each.
Now, on to Pesach!
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