Costumes and Culture: Montreal Celebrates Jewish Holiday of Purim
“2 Jews 5 opinions” has often been associated with the phenomenon that Jews always seem to have trouble coming to a conclusive agreement about any given topic. However, there is always an exception to the rule, and in this case, it is the fact that Purim is the best and most fun holiday to celebrate. Purim is often referred to as “Jewish Halloween”, and while this isn’t necessarily wrong, there are definitely some big differences between the two. On March 2nd, The Museum of Jewish Montreal hosted a very interesting event to celebrate Purim, using elements of the story and customs for the celebration. But before jumping into exactly how to celebrate this notorious holiday, let’s take a look at how exactly it came to be.
About 2600 years ago, in the days of the Persian Empire, there was a king named Achashverosh. Don’t worry if you can’t pronounce that, we can’t either. Now, this king isn’t exactly known for his kindness and charity. Within the first chapter of the text, he kills off his wife for not parading herself around all his friends at his banquet. He then freaks out because he doesn’t have a queen, and decides to invite all the beautiful maidens of Persia to live at the castle for a few months as he plays his very own version of The Bachelor to decide who gets to be the lucky queen.
This is where we meet our heroes, Mordechai and Esther: a young Jewish woman and her uncle. Mordechai, seeing an opportunity for his niece, commands Esther to compete for the crown and so she goes, although unenthusiastically, to Achashverosh’s castle. She ends up competing and winning the hand of the king, but without ever revealing to the king that she is Jewish.
At the same time, our antagonist, Haman, is on the rise. This haughty man was the second in command of the castle, and he decides that he deserves to be worshipped as a deity. Why? We’re not so sure. He instructs everyone to bow to him, but Mordechai says that he would never bow to someone who isn’t his God. Haman, angry to be disrespected and looking for a scapegoat, decides that the best way to secure his power is by killing all the Jews, since they went against him. He chooses the date of his killings with the roll of a die, and the king stamps the declaration with his seal of approval.
All the Jews of Persia begin mourning, but Esther and Mordechai come up with a plan. Esther, despite the threat of death hanging in the air, goes to talk to her husband and gets him and Haman to go to a feast that she has organized. She does this twice, buttering up Haman and the king, making sure he’s in a good mood and willing to help her. Then, when Haman is out of the room, she comes clean. She confesses that she is Jewish and she tells the king that Haman is trying to kill her people. In response to this, Achashverosh grows so angry that he orders that Haman and all ten of his sons to be hanged in the town square.
Mordechai is elected as the new second in command, and Esther lived out her days as a joyous queen. The 13th of Adar (March 6th of this year), the day the Jews were supposed to be executed, was declared a national holiday to celebrate life rather than fear death, and so came the commandment to be happy in the month of Adar.
Now that we understand the need for such a vibrant and flamboyant holiday, let’s talk about what that actually entails. There are four main commandments to fulfill on Purim, along with many customs. There is a lot of emphasis placed on the idea of remembering something so it is not repeated, and so the first commandment is to read the text with the story of Purim twice during the day, so that it is always fresh in our minds.
The second commandment is to give to charity. Because of how they were treated in Persia, the Jews decided to never treat anyone else with those standards, and so the custom is to never turn someone away if they ask for money on Purim.
The third commandment is something called mishloach manot. This is basically just a little gift basket with some food in it, and each person must give out two of them. This is for the same basic reason as the charity principle, with the added bonus of helping out with the fourth commandment, which is to have a feast. Families gather at one house; there’s singing, dancing, drinking, and absolutely endless joy. All four of these laws work together to give those who celebrate a full experience of triumph and happiness, both through helping themselves and through helping others. Of course, there is also the custom to dress up, which is where the Halloween comparison comes in.
One tradition of Purim is that you should get so drunk that you cannot tell the difference between Haman and Mordechai. Obviously, this is not a commandment (especially if you’re underage), but it does make Purim a popular holiday among Jewish young adults. This year, the Museum of Jewish Montreal, located in the Plateau area, took a particularly modern take on Purim festivities. In order to celebrate the holiday, they planned a party featuring a costume contest, a specialty cocktail, a live DJ, and the iconic drag queen herself, Poutine Levine. After all, on a holiday rooted in performance and extravagance, what could possibly make more sense than a drag performance?
The party itself took place on March 2nd, a couple of days before the actual holiday took place. Packed into the relatively small space that is the Museum of Jewish Montreal, a hundred young (and not so young) adults came together to celebrate Purim. The first floor of the museum—the dedicated dance floor— was packed to the point that crossing it was a timely (and complicated) endeavour, while the second floor, and the spiral staircase connecting the two, served as a stage for Poutine Levine. While her performance was short and sweet (only one song long), she stayed around afterwards to take pictures with people and to judge a costume contest. Speaking of costumes, this event definitively proved that costume parties are not just for little kids. Some standouts included a few mimes, some clowns, pirates, and even more drag queens!
The Museum of Jewish Montreal’s event, as well as many others that took place during Purim, perfectly exemplify the vibrancy of Jewish life in Montreal, and truly demonstrates the cultural diversity of our city. This same diversity is well represented at our school, and events like these, which are open to all, are great opportunities to learn about cultures different from your own. Not only is it a fun time, but it’s also a way to expand your knowledge of other cultures!
So happy belated Purim to you all! Looking forward to celebrating with you and Poutine next year.
