Orthodox Jews celebrate annual liberation festival in Jerusalem

These images are not exactly what you imagine when you think of a religious celebration.

But among Jewish communities, the annual holiday of Purim can result in drunken abandonment, as it’s marked by parties, costumes, good food and, for men, lots of alcohol.

The scenes in Mea Shearim were typical of the holiday, which celebrates the liberation of the Jewish people from a plan to exterminate them in the Persian empire 2,500 years ago.

According to the account, the plot was devised by Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire. Haman was the adviser to the Persian king Ahasuerus. But the plans were thwarted by Mordechai.

The story is told in the Biblical book of Esther, which is publicly recited in the synagogue, known as the Megillah reading, as part of the annual festivities.

This joyous holiday is characterized by the exchange of delicious food, drink and gifts, a lavish celebratory meal and donations to the poor.

According to religious law, each adult must give at least two different foods to another person and at least two charitable donations to the poor during the holiday. The delivery of these food parcels, called mishloach manot, has become an important aspect of the celebrations.

To fulfill the aspect of charity with the poor, food or money equivalent to the amount of food eaten in a normal meal can be donated. Collections will also be made in the Synagogue.

It’s a holiday that has been embraced by ultra-Orthodox Jews, who are known for throwing large parties, complete with costumes and popular dishes like three-cornered cakes called hamantashen. These are traditionally filled with raspberry, apricot, date or poppy seeds.

Seeds, nuts, legumes, and green vegetables are commonly eaten on Purim, as is Kerplach, a dumpling filled with cooked meat, chicken, or liver and served in soup.

Specialty breads are also commonly eaten, and a dessert consisting of fried dumplings and vanilla custard, called Arany galuska, is traditional for the Jews of Hungary and Romania, as well as their descendants.

But possibly the most outrageous part of the festivities is that men are encouraged to drink alcoholic beverages to the point of getting drunk.

The custom is said to derive from a statement in the Talmud, attributed to a rabbi named Rava, who supposedly states that men should drink during the festivities until “he can no longer distinguish between arur Haman (Cursed be Haman) and baruch Mordechai.” (Blessed be Haman. is Mordecai).

Drinking wine is believed to stimulate the experience of spiritual blindness, in which a person is unable to distinguish between good and evil while drunk.

However, men have had to curb their drinking in recent years.

During the pandemic, ultra-Orthodox chief rabbis were forced to urge restraint as large parties led to a surge in the coronavirus.