Happy Purim!

Israel celebrated Purim last week. This is the holiday that is commanded at the end of the book of Esther. It is a holiday for dressing up, giving candy to others, and going to parties.

This is where my stick-in-the-mud-iness comes out. Creating a clever costume is stressful and intimidating to me, I'm currently not eating sugar, and parties with a bunch of people in close proximity are exhausting for me. So, I escaped to Abu Ghosh for a couple of days to avoid Tel Aviv's party atmosphere.

I returned to Tel Aviv in time for Shabbat. During the 1.5 hour bus ride from my place to Jaffa I passed many parties and thousands of people in costume. The bus gave me just enough distance from the crushing crowds of party-goers.

Shabbat dinner was lovely! There was subtle costuming but lots of music. We played instruments and sang for around 3 or 4 hours. We taught each other songs and even sang "Favorite Things" from Sound of Music. I liked celebrating Purim like that.