Purim 2011

My heart is heavy for the people of Japan. I am watching the news all day and I just wish there was something of significance I could do to help these poor people. I am totally not in the mood of celebrating, but my kids had the festival of purim today at school and now have 3 days purim vacation. So despite the somber news, I decided to make them a purim blog-post. Purim is a holiday commemorating the deliverance of the Jewish people from a very bad situation, purim is also a holiday of hope. No matter how bad a situation is, there is hope, there is our faith in deliverance, in turning something bad to good. I pray for the people of Japan.

Purim is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination. Purim is characterized by public recitation of the Scroll of Esther (keriat ha-megillah), additions to the prayers and the grace after meals (al hannisim,)giving mutual gifts of food and drink (mishloach manot), giving charity to the poor (mattanot la-evyonim), and a celebratory meal (se'udat Purim); other customs include drinking wine, wearing of masks and costumes, and public celebration. One of the symbols of Purim is the noise-maker which is used whenever the name of the evil Persian minister Haman is mentioned. Haman wanted to eliminate the Jews, but they were saved by queen Esther. The word “Purim” means “lots” and refers to the lottery that Haman used to choose the date for the massacre. Among Ashkenazic Jews, a common treat at this time of year is hamentaschen (lit. Haman's pockets) or in Hebrew Ozen Haman (Haman's ear). These triangular fruit-filled cookies are supposed to represent Haman's three-cornered hat.

It was always a big job for me to get 4 children costumes on a budget. In the last couple of years Michal and Sharon didn't dress up anymore, but Sarai and Yael are still in the game :)

Michal (top row)

Sharon (bottom row), loved the selfmade geisha costume.

Sarai (16) in six different purim-years, she dressed up today as the Swedish cook :)

Yael (13) in six different purim-years , she dressed up today as Gaya, mother nature. I really loved the selfmade Hermione costume of last year (from Harry Potter).

and here is a little scrapkit freebie for Purim, a couple of fullsize papers, 2 frames and a Purim frame cluster with noise-rattle and Haman's taschen 

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