פורים בלאגן | Purim Craziness

Purim in Israel is unlike anything I have ever seen. For those of you who don't know, Purim is when we celebrate the events of the Book of Esther, in which the Persian Jews were not killed by Haman and lived to be persecuted another day, and it is a mitzvah (commandment) to get completely drunk to celebrate. In modern observance, it's kind of like the Jewish/Israeli version of Halloween. The actual holiday is only one day long, and it was on this past Saturday (Feb 27), but festivities here in Israel last much longer than that.

At Ofek, they had a whole week of celebration leading up to Purim. From Sunday through Wednesday, they had dance parties during both breaks (snacktime and lunchtime). They also had a karaoke night on Monday night, and competitions among the classes on Wednesday. On Thursday, there were no classes at all, and they had a Purim Carnival (much cooler than the B'nai Israel Purim Carnival, by the way) complete with competitive games, rock a water slide, and a bouncy castle! This all culminated on Thursday night with a sort of show / school dance. They had a costume contest, some skits and musical performances, and student DJs. It started at 9pm, and lasted all the way until 2am!

Calendar of Purim Week Activities at Ofek

On Friday night, Yechiam had their Purim Party, which had an Olympics theme. Everyone from the kibbutz came in costume. It was insane.

Ofek also has Sunday and Monday off for a Purim Break, which is why I'm writing these blogs now, while everyone else is packing.

Pictures from Purim festivities, as well as a bunch from the last week at Ofek are up here.