Procrastinet

Purim: Where All My Hip Young Jews At?

filed under: Dadditudes

As a lifelong goy, I didn't have any idea what Purim was, except that once a year there would be hamantaschen at the office. And as a lifelong opter-out (opt-outer?) of organized religion, I was somewhat nervous as we headed off to the Purim Carnival sponsored by Brooklyn Jews at the Brooklyn Lyceum.

But the poster was really cool, so I swallowed my trepidation and off we went.

And a fantastic time was had by all:

(click for full size on all pictures)

It was the perfect Park Slope crowd - youngish, baby-laden, hip without being hipster, friendly, eclectic. Lots and lots of families with kids (many in costume, which is why a friend calls Purim "Jewish Halloween") and parents who look like they're in publishing, but also some older devout-Reform-Jewish types and at least one couple who were grooving to the band and each other like they were at Webster Hall. At one point they almost ground Max underfoot as they did their strange Klezmer Lambada.

There were lots of hamantaschen to buy, bake-sale style, as well as beer from He'Brew (the chosen beer!). I had a $3 Messiah Bold, and it was actually pretty excellent for a gimmick beer (from Schmaltz Brewery, no less).

More pictures after the jump...

The turnout was really impresive - about 350, by the host's estimate:

There was a "Make Your Own Purim Crown" station for the kiddies, which also dispelled any doubt about the political leanings of the crowd:

Max fell madly in love with the crown making station, and greatly enjoyed getting to wear a crown in public:

He had never encountered stickers before, and they blew his little mind. He spent the next hour sticking them to his crown, a plate, the floor, and mommy:

Then the headlining band took the stage. They're called Golem, and The Jewish Week said of them "This is not your father's klezmer band. Unless, of course, your father was Sid Vicious." (They received five out of five stars... of David! Wokka!) They're a klezmer/rock band with a punkish, Lower East Side sensibility.

Golem manages to rock out and feel authentically connected to their musical heritage all at the same time. In Yiddish. If you combined the music of the shtetl with They Might Be Giants, you'd be in the ballpark.

Max dug it:

All in all, the Carnival simply kicked ass. It was probably the first time in my life I've encountered a group of people, brought together by organized religion, who I actually sort of wanted to hang out with.

Brooklyn Jews' stated mission is to redevelop the tradition of the Jewish neighborhood, revitalized to have a place in modern life. Judging by the Carnival, they've made a darn fine start of it.

Posted by rjt at March 29, 2005 03:43 PM