festival features food
and dancing
Locals celebrate Purim
holiday with party
Annual Jewish
festival features food
and dancing
BY CHARLES W. KIM
Staff Writer
CHARLES W. KIM Michaela Gogerman, 5, of East Brunswick (l), joins twin sisters Heather and Rebecca Kizner, both 5, of North Brunswick, as they design sand-art cards with Ivy Spears’ help at the Purim celebration at Pierre’s Restaurant in South Brunswick Sunday.
SOUTH BRUNSWICK — More than 100 people gathered at Pierre’s Restaurant Sunday to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim.
"It is a very festive and happy time," Yasmin Fisher of Dayton said.
Yasmin and her husband, Sam, joined other revelers at the party, which was sponsored by the Chabad of South Brunswick.
According to the Chabad literature, the holiday represents the salvation of the Jewish race from the plan of Persia’s Prime Minister, Haman, to "destroy every single Jew on the face of the earth." However, the Jewish Queen Esther was able to thwart Haman’s plan during a wine party by getting the king to allow the Jews to defend themselves. The Jews battled those who tried to fulfill Haman’s wishes, and then celebrated by feasting.
PHOTOS BY CHARLES W. KIM Guests sample various Jewish foods (above); Israeli native Eli Gur (right) prepares the schwarma, a combination of lamb and turkey meat; and South Brunswick residents Skyler Aspir, 4, (far left) and sister Tori, 7, fill their plates during a celebration of the Jewish holiday Purim in South Brunswick on Sunday.
The holiday has evolved into a day of dressing in costumes, feasting and dancing, according to the Chabad.
"Most Jewish holidays are more serious. This one has levity," said Sam Fisher, costumed as a Persian.
Yasmin said that the holiday is a great time for children as well."It is a time where kids can enjoy themselves and you can let your hair down," Yasmin said.
"It was a wonderful event," Chabad Rabbi Levi Asimov said Tuesday about the celebration.
The festivities on Sunday included food from Israel like the schwarma, a rack of meat made of both lamb and turkey. Asimov said that the Schwarma actually came from Israel for the party and special spices were added.
In addition to the ethnic foods, children participated in sand art projects, making cards to commemorate the holiday.
Asimov read the story of the holiday from the Scroll of Esther, known as the Megillah, but told the audience that it would not take long.
"We read the Megillah in about 20 minutes so we can enjoy the rest of the day," Asimov said.
It is also important to give gifts of food to friends and relatives during the holiday, and to donate to charities for the poor, he said. According to Asimov, these good deeds are mitzvahs to be done during the holiday.
Asimov, a member of the Lubavitch Hasidic sect, founded the local Chabad just over a year ago. The Chabad movement started during the time of the seventh rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Schneerson pushed to establish the Chabad outreach program in the 1950s. The outreach, conducted by emissaries, like Asimov, strive to make Jewish people aware of their own culture, and to help non-Jews get in touch with their own spirituality.
Following Schneerson’s death in 1994, the Chabad movement continued and has grown substantially as the years have progressed.
Sam Fisher said that he has been attending the local Chabad house on Riva Avenue for services for the last six months.
"They are very accepting and try not to instill their philosophy on everyone else," Fisher said.