If you give a Yearcourser a grogger...

Me and Craig (my brother)

       Four nights of celebrating Purim has finally come to a close. The first night we had an all year course party with people from all the different sections, then the next night we went to Tel Aviv and literally the streets were filled with people for miles. Every corner had a different DJ or band and thousands of people were drunkenly dancing everywhere in crazy costumes and fireworks were going off the whole night.  The best part of my night was running into Craig! It’s almost impossible to find people in that crowd so I was extremely happy to be able to see him. 

Hannah, Eric, and I.

The next day, there was a street festival in Tel Aviv but me and my roommate, Hannah, went to the beach and slept on the sand for a while before returning to Jerusalem. As soon as we got back we had to shower and get dressed up again for another party. We went to a Megilah reading of the Purim story and every yearcourser in the crowd had a grogger and every time the word “Haman” was said, everyone went ballistic and by the end of the reading, my head was pounding(or maybe it was from the wine last night..) but after this, our madrichim gave us homentoshin and we had a costume contest. Then, all the yearcoursers went out to Ben Yehuda (the hot spot in Jerusalem for Americas at night) but I was too exhausted and decided to be lame and stay in and skype mommy.

Hannah on the beach

Then today we woke up at ten and went to an old age art home and passed out candy. It’s a non-profit organization called Yad LaKashish that takes in needy elderly and disabled and every morning, the elderly spend their time producing professional quality handmade craft items and art that’s sold at the gift shop(I bought a painted journal made out of recycled paper). This is a truly special place that gives these men and woman a sense of purpose and belonging. After spending time here, we walked down Ben Yehuda street which was packed with musicians, little kids with cotton candy and princess dressed on, a long parade, and lots of Hasidic(religious) men drinking vodka and singing Jewish songs. Although I’m sad the holiday has come to a close, I’m thankful I was able to celebrate Purim in the holy land!