The tractor pulling coloring flags down King David Street once again made an appearance, as children and adults dressed in costumes sang and danced.
Hundreds paraded through the streets of the Jewish neighborhoods of Hebron on Thursday for the holiday of Purim. The festivities were preceded by the traditional reading of the scroll of Esther which describes the Jewish people’s miraculous rescue from the wicked plot of Haman by the heroic Esther and Mordechai.
Megillah reading took place at the Cave of Machpela and other Hebron synagogue such as Chabad and the Avraham Avinu synagogue.
The tractor pulling coloring flags down King David Street once again made an appearance, as children and adults dressed in costumes sang and danced. This year, several Hebron residents joked about the Temporary International Presence in Hebron, the group of foreign observers that patrolled the streets of the Jewish community for the past several decades.
One resident wore a mock TIPH costume with the letter ‘TISH.’ Another had his photo taken pretending to puncture the tire of a vehicle, a real incident, which eventually led to the ending of the TIPH mandate and their leaving the city after years of complaints.
Purim is celebrated for two days in Hebron with the second day usually being reserved for the children’s festival which included games and fun outdoor activities.
As described in Esther 9:18, the Jewish communities in walled cities celebrated Purim a day later. Jerusalem is a prime example of a city where the holiday on the second day. The sages defined a walled city as whether or not it had a wall at the time of Joshua. The remains of Hebron’s wall can still be seen today at the Tel Hevron archaeological site.
However, because Hebron was also defined as a city of refuge, this wall was intended for demolition, in order to allow rapid entry into the city. Because it was never removed, the compromise decision was to celebrate the holiday in Hebron for two day, although on the second day, the Megillah is read without a blessing.
Hebron also had two other historic mini-Purim celebrations, which were marked by the community for generations until the 1929 massacre.
One was call Window Purim in which the community was miraculously saved. The other was called the Purim of Ibrahim Pasha. To read about these historic Purim holidays click here.
Purim history in Hebron also included special foods and unique stories of days gone by. To read an essay about Purim of yesterday from Hebron native David Avisar click here.
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