Purim – Traditions, part I

EtsyChai members all have different traditions – here we’ll share some of ours:

“I live in Modi’in, Israel, a community currently made up primarily of young families. At Purim we are lucky enough to receive a huge amount of Mishloach Manot. The kids get excited about it weeks in advance! Because of the sheer quantity that we receive, I am of course aware that other families also receive the same amount of ‘junk food’.  Therefore I try and make my own packages a little more individual.

Last year I baked delicious chocolate chip cookies inspired by a fellow blogger! The Australian girls at A Spoonful of Sugar blog have the most wonderful recipes and their cookies certainly went down a treat with my friends last year. I added a little bottle of wine into the package, wrapped it all up nicely and closed it with a homemade tag with a photo of my  kids in their fancy dress costumes! It is wonderful to see them all lined up, before the delivery begins!”
-Lisa of Handmade in Israel (read more stories of her life in Israel at Lisa’s blog, too.)

“A Purim memory - my childhood Rabbi dressed as the Megillah Gorilla every year and the kids loved seeing the Megillah Gorilla stomp around and go wild when Hamen's name was said! He held a big stop/go sign - like a street sign - so the kids would know when to make noise and when to be quiet for the reading. “
- Melanie of MopTopMaven

Melanie’s character clips are great for dress-up and the perfect finishing touch to a Princess costume!

“In my synagogue, we had a Sephardic Cantor. One year, she and her husband dressed up as Hershey's kisses (with tin foil) She put bottles of grape juice, wine and schnaps on a little table in front of the bimah.

In between the chapters of the Megillah reading, the congregation was invited up to have a shot to encourage us to drink and "not know the difference between Hamen and Mordecai."

At my old synagogue, the Hazzan dressed up as a Kentucky Colonel (he was actually given this title in Kentucky) and wore a tux. One of the gabais wore an umpire costume and had a whistle and there was a strobing light, like on a squad car. When the name was mentioned, musicians would play, the whistle would blow and everyone would do the graggers and stamp their feet. There was also a costume contest for the kinder.  It was fun.”
- Linda B. of Linda B's Beaded Jewelry    So pretty, for many holidays!