Sunday, March 04, 2007
Purim!

Two ladies in my community had babies last night. So I get a phone call today from Rebbetzin Plony; "Can you make food for the purim meal for Yosefa?" "No problem! Thank you for including me in this chesed!" I agreed to provide 2 chickens and a kugel. "Not too much pressure?" (Why, because I'm a nutjob?) "No, it's fine." "I know it's short notice."

So I ran out to the heimishe store to buy noodles for the kugel. I'm in my purim costume (the most obnoxiously loud shirt I could find and an electric green wig). I didn't mind going there, because they know it's purim. However, no noodles. I couldn't stop home first. I went to Publix. In my costume.

Meanwhile my kids took their costumes off so it's not like we're a unit, in costume. No. They just see me. I kept telling myself, I'm doing this for a mitzvah. Who cares if I look like a freakazoid. I need to cook for my friend who had a baby. It's purim.

I kept thinking of Reb Pinchos Reizes, a very fine chossid of the Alter Rebbe (not that I compare). Anyway, another chossid (Reb Shmuel Munkis) told him to go into the town square and play "horsey" on a broomstick, to humble himself in public. That's what I thought of, in Publix, feeling embarrassed. I got some stares.

But I made 3 Jews laugh.


6 Comments:

  • At 8:30 PM, Blogger Dinosaur Mom said…

    Sweet. Please make sure to enjoy some hamentashen for me.

     
  • At 11:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Mavin:
    I know Purim is when the Jews remember/celebrate what Esther/Hadassah did for her people, but I will admit I have never heard of dressing in costume to celebrate it. I would love to know more about it and what it signifies.

     
  • At 11:35 PM, Blogger Maven said…

    dino mama: i wished you woulda told me this before! i enjoyed oh-so-many, i surely could have enjoyed for you too.

    sarai(h): you know, i had to look up the answer to your question - i always took purim costumes for granted! so the answers i found were: we "hide" ourselves in costumes like G-d "hid" Himself in the purim story. also, esther hid her true identity from her husband, king achashverous. so we conceal ourselves as she did.

     
  • At 1:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Is it bad that I skipped the hamentashen? It just seems like I can't have just one...

     
  • At 6:30 PM, Blogger Mrs Andy said…

    The beautiful thing about living in the US is that it doesn't matter than you went to the store in your costume...it takes all kinds of people to make this a great place to live. I would have totally done the same thing.

     
  • At 11:22 PM, Blogger Bas~Melech said…

    LOL... at least you got some good mussar out of it! I probably would have been too embarrassed to get spiritual...

     

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My Photo Name: Fancy Schmancy Anxiety Maven
Location: Chutz l'aretz - Outside of Brooklyn

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