purim...the other halloween
Ahh, the holiday of purim is rapidly approaching. Let's take a closer look at this holiday, shall we?...
do we really fast because Esther was going before the king to ask him to spare the lives of the jews? or, do we fast because the selection of candy that we receive is so extensive, enticing and caloric that we need to store up a whole day of calories so we can indulge?
are we really supposed to drink so much purim night so we can't tell the difference between the evil of haman and the goodness of mordechai(is that even true?) OR, are we supposed to drink a lot so we don't remember how much tuition, camp and mortgages are....hmmmm...or....because we just like to drink a lot and any excuse is a valid one(not all of us drink, just some..)
Do we give shaloch manot to people because we are trying to fulfill the mitzvah(good deed) that it says in the megillah or do we do it because if we don't, our kids tell us that we are lazy, that if we really loved them we would drive them around for three hours and if we don't do what they ask of us, we end up spending the whole afternoon being grumpy...(or do we do it because it gives us moms a chance to clean out our pantries for passover-so if any of you get boxes of noodles or cans of corn...now you know why!!)
Do we dress up on purim to emulate the characters in the megillah (wait, there were football players in the megillah? how did I miss that? Power rangers? Clowns? ) Or do we do it so party city can raise their prices on costumes that they didn't sell halloween time?? things that make you go hmmmmm...
I have often said that my community is really great when someone is dying, someone dies and on purim.. On purim, the streets are filled with minivans filled with happy children and smiling mothers(and fathers, on occasion, if they take the day off)..everyone is nice to eachother-giving eachother yummy purim treats, exchanging kind words...it is probably because of all the sugar intake, because most of these people are not friendly during the year(because they are hungry the rest of the time...not that there is anything wrong with that...)
So in conclusion, even though the holiday of purim has morphed into a halloween like celebration, albeit with the reading of the megillah, it proves that people are just friendlier when they eat candy. Which continues to prove my theory of "food is love." Don't knock until you have tried it...
Happy almost Purim and Happy Wednesday....
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