Remember Rosh Chodesh Adar in Jerusalem of past years?
Purim could be felt in the air seen in the streets.
Purim
Jerusalem Purim Highlights
Purim.
Purim in Jerusalem is special.
Where else is Purim a three day holiday, that is celebrated for a week?
This year with corona restrictions and lockdowns, it was really different.
In years past, the Jerusalem streets were filled with happy people.
Reading Megilat Esther was a huge community event.
Synagogues were overflowing with people of all ages.
Excited children came dressed in costumes, waiting for sweet treats.
This year, daytime readings were held in multiple locations on the hour.
Many readings took place outside with social distancing, like this one on Friday morning organized by Chabad of Rechavia.
Following the Megillah on a cell phone has become common sight.
Readings were held at Thursday night outside. Jerusalem celebrated with the reading at the same time as the rest of Israel, on this Triple Purim year.
No costumed families in crowded malls as in past years.
But, Mamilla Mall was finally reopened and people came back to shop.
Holiday signs were placed in Kikar Safra, the Jerusalem Municipal Building.
Online programs from the Tower of David and Jerusalem Symphony special for Purim were available. But museums and some theaters are reopening for live audiences, however, with limited performances.
Jaffa Road was busy as the city is coming back to life again after the numerous business lockdowns.
People were on Jaffa Road shopping for holiday costumes before Purim.
There were a few costumes on the Jerusalem streets early in week.
New colorful plastic chairs are seen on many streets. With no inside dining allowed, the Jerusalem municipality has provided these chairs for outside.
Imagine stopping strangers on the street to take their photos? Then to find a family member who knows them – that is always a Purim favorite.
Ah, but on the Jerusalem streets, it is often hard to tell who is in costume.
On Purim day it is easier when someone waves and smiles across the road.
Live music played on this corner on Friday, providing a holiday mood.
Purim is always a good time to head to Shushan Street, near Jaffa Road.
On Sunday, the day after Shushan Purim, the Jerusalem streets really came alive with sounds of music.
Dozens of street performers in colorful costumes entertained.
One dance group was perfectly choreographed and drew admiring crowd.
Costumes were varied, colorful and plentiful, especially on Sunday.
Monsters were popular this year, like these on the Montefiore Windmill,
at the beginning of Jaffa Road overlooking Kikar Tzahal,
and at Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Residence.
I hope someone explained Purim to the six new ambassadors to Israel who presented their credentials on Wednesday, entering through the main gate under the orange inflated monster.
The ‘Follow the Lights’ event with 22 Jerusalem sites lit up at night is to run through this week.
On Purim night with the 8:30 pm curfew, these wheels were spinning.
The Knesset was lit for the ‘Follow the Lights’ but no beams on top for the three nights when coronavirus restrictions limited movement on streets.
I was glad I took this video on Monday before the the curfews began.
The Montefiore Windmill was lit up on Purim night and needed a video.
On Purim in Jerusalem, you never know what or who you will find.
When posting some Purim costume street photographs on Facebook, a person commented that it was good to see “normality” again.
Like the two giant leprechauns out for a stroll on Ben Yehudah Street?
Yoda reminds us, “The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see the light, the future is.”
The Purim holiday reminds us to look to the bright side and light in the future from behind our masks.
The fourth monster in the Purim fancy dress series was the Jerusalem icon Mifletzet. The Monster in the Kiryat Yovel Rabinowitz Park wore a gold crown -corona is Spanish for a crown – this Purim holiday.
As we end this most unusual Purim, hoping next year in Jerusalem for all!
Happy Purim!
Three days of Purim not enough? There are more photos HERE
Purim in Jerusalem תש”פ
Purim. Part of the Purim celebration is a theme of upside down.
Haman vs Mordechai and Esther. Evil vs. Good.
Good triumphant and people living and celebrating the demise of the evil decree.
The story retold year after year, read from a megillah, the Scroll of Esther.
This miniature illustrated megillah in the Israel Museum’s permanent Purim exhibit is a favorite.
However, this Purim in Jerusalem was not like any other.
The municipality had an improved its Purim website with a long list of official activities.
But the huge public sponsored Jerusalem celebrations and gatherings which went on during times of war and terror in the past were canceled.
Last week I was joking about my supersaturated photo of Corona bottles.
This week coronavirus – COVID-19 – is nothing to joke about – except it was Purim.
Not in Jerusalem. See those front lawns and suburban homes? This “flu bug” caught by my photographer friend with a great eye was so clever I asked her to let me share it. Please note the license plate “NF LUNZA.”
Though Jerusalem municipal mega-events were canceled due to the Ministry of Health restrictions, people still arrived in Jerusalem to celebrate Purim and Shushan Purim. Purim was celebrated in the Machane Yehudah Market, the shuk, and Nahlaot, with singing and dancing, costumes, and yes, drinking.
The show went on at the Tower of David Museum, both days, and was sold out at the night event.
Purim in Jerusalem is not a one day, but a week-long event.
Starting on Sunday morning, though sometimes it is hard to tell what is really a dress-up costume, “animals” were spotted.
The morning crowds near the shuk and on King George Street seemed bigger than regular Sunday and included, seniors in wheelchairs and babies in strollers.
Purim costume dress-up is taken seriously in Jerusalem.
These high school girls posed on their way home from school.
Two high school boys let me take their photo, but did not offer me any ice cream.
The 10th annual Azza Zaza Purim was held Tuesday night and all day Wednesday. The megillah was read at dozens of Jerusalem business locations on the hour, every hour in another location, at times even at not kosher restaurants, thanks to Chabad of Rechavia.
At least on Purim, streets were cleared of construction vehicles.
On the streets, creatures with wings were spotted walking,
and angels and princesses of various ages.
Masks for costume or safety precaution?
With over 30,000 Israelis in isolation this Purim, visitors kept their distance.
But even with fewer people on the streets, during peak hours for delivering Mishloach Manot, Purim gifts of food, traffic was enough to be annoying and dangerous.
Part of Purim celebration is the seudah, a big meal with good food and drink.
Costumes are optional, but singing and music and fun are required.
The Jerusalem Marathon was postponed until November 6, 2020.
The COVID-19 coronavirus threatened Purim in Jerusalem.
Families were not out in great numbers as in the past.
I attended smaller megillah readings in private homes and didn’t roam the streets.
But thanks to clever friends, we will share one more Purim image that sums up this truly upside down Purim in Jerusalem.
We worried. We prayed. Then it was time to eat.
פורים שמח
Purim Sameach
Happy Purim from the Jerusalem streets.