Purim

“There is significant irony in contemporary traditional communities on Purim…”

There is significant irony in contemporary traditional communities on Purim; rabbinic overexertion of the laws of Purim has led legal-minded individuals to compel themselves and others to attend punctiliously and with all seriousness to the reading of the Měgillâ – a work of bawdy comedy. The image of a costumed clown ritually reading the Měgillâ […] continued…

“…parthenogenetic (self-fertilizing) hamantaschen—pubic triangles traditionally filled with black seeds—are pre-spring, full-moon fertility cookies…”

So…can I prove that hamantaschen are contemporary sacred vulva cakes? No. But it certainly makes academic and gut sense to me: that parthenogenetic (self-fertilizing) hamantaschen—pubic triangles traditionally filled with black seeds—are pre-spring, full-moon fertility cookies, suggesting the potency of female generative power, and heralding women’s and the Earth’s seasonally awakening creativity. Therefore . . . […] continued…

“Jewish comedy was influenced by social types portrayed by the mask in the commedia dell’arte”

We wish to confine ourselves to showing how the mask was related to “the play element”, to “comic gaiety”, as well as satire, during Purim, while recognizing that, in the Italian comedy, the mask represented not only the comic, but the demonic or tragic. … By means of woodcuts in Minhagim Books, we can discern […] continued…

“The sexualization of Purim is partly just a matter of convenience”

The sexualization of Purim is partly just a matter of convenience. The easiest and cheapest way for Israeli businesses to stock outfits for this once-a-year surge of demand is to import those made elsewhere for Halloween, and many of these are risqué. While characters related to the Purim story, or the Bible, are obvious choices […] continued…