March 2024, Dayenu. All rights reserved.
A famous saying goes, “When the month of Adar enters, joy increases.” It refers to the time of year when Jews celebrate their most joyful holiday — Purim.
Purim isn't just a holiday: it is the ultimate celebration of Jewish survival, full of cheer, humor, and a splash of confetti. It is the antidote to the twin threats of spiritual assimilation and physical annihilation.
Purim is also proof that even in the face of sadness and terror, joy is not only possible but necessary. It commands us to love and rejoice in a world where hatred and sadness play the villain. Its lesson: joy that has known fear is worth treasuring and dancing to!
Rabbi Jason Rubenstein calls this "redemptive joy". It is the kind of joy that recognizes the brokenness of the world but still grooves to a greater beat. Purim is not about denying the pain; it is about celebrating survival, heroism, and love despite life's fragility. In a nutshell, it embodies the classic Jewish sentiment, "They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat!"
But beside the festivities, Purim is also a powerful reminder of the ongoing battle against antisemitism. Its story echoes through the ages, with Haman convincing King Ahasuerus to harm Jews simply because Mordechai refused to bow. It is a timeless tale of standing firm in the face of tyranny.
Fast forward to 2023 — the brutal attack of Hamas and antisemitism rearing up again with centuries-old tropes. In this fight against discrimination, Purim serves as a beacon of empowerment. Esther is not just a character but a heroine whose courage fuels Jewish resistance.
<aside> <img src="/icons/theatre_yellow.svg" alt="/icons/theatre_yellow.svg" width="40px" /> The lasting lesson of Purim? No despair allowed! We must be cheerful, spontaneous, and proudly Jewish. Each Purim celebration becomes an act of resistance against the antisemites and a testament to Jewish joy, pride, and survival.
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The holiday is celebrated by feasting, drinking, and holding masquerades. Sound familiar? This is a Carnival! →
The Origins
The roots of the carnival tradition can be found in many festivals around the world marking the transition from winter to spring. These early celebrations involved feasting, music, and masked processions, aiming to drive away evil spirits and welcome the arrival of warmer days. They also frequently offered a break from accepted social norms. During the Roman Saturnalia, slaves and masters swapped places for a day and the masters served a feast to their slaves. The ancient Greeks celebrated the god Momo, a cheerful and humorous spirit who mocked everyone, even other deities. Even the Egyptians held celebrations in honor of Isis that involved wearing masks.
The word Carnival is likely traced to the medieval Latin carnem levare or carnelevarium, which means to take away or remove meat. The Carnival was the final festivity before the commencement of the austere 40 days of Lent, during which Roman Catholics fasted, abstained from eating meat, and followed other ascetic practices. Another theory is that the word comes from Latin carrum navalis, a type of a float shaped like a ship that was used by the Romans during the Saturnalia.
In the Middle Ages, the Church combined the pagan and Christian strains of Carnival into a single celebration. Beginning in the mid-12th century, the popes in Rome presided over days of raucous festivities that included jousting, races, bullfights, and candlelit processions of masked revelers. The Venice Carnival, one of the most well-known in the world, was officially established in 1296 and reached its peak fame in the 18th century, attracting tourists from all over Europe. Unfortunately, the Carnival was prohibited by the Austrians when they took over the city in 1797, and was not fully revived in its current form until the 1970’s.
The first written records of the famous Cologne Carnival date back to 1341, but the Carnival celebrated today dates back to the founding of the Festival Committee in 1823. Similarly, the Nice Carnival was first mentioned in 1294, but its Festival Committee and current structure were created much later, in 1873.
In Germany, the “Fat Thursday” before Lent is also known as Women’s Carnival Day. On this day, women carry out a symbolic takeover of town halls and cut off men’s ties as a show of strength and independence.