In high school I had a social studies teacher who was a HinJew. He was an old hippy who found eastern religion, and through that became more of an observant Jew (no, it doesn’t make total sense, but that’s how it was). I was just thinking that Mr. Steinfink would have been very busy last weekend with both Holi and Purim falling at the same time.
It’s funny how similar the two events are. They’re both great holidays for kids — you get to throw colored powder on people, dress up, and make noise — but they also involve the sanctioned or encouraged use of mind altering substances as well. A little something for for all ages, I guess
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| Fun for kids | You get to throw colored powder and water at people, no matter how important or old | You get to use loud noisemakers (greggars), dress up in costumes, and eat pastries (homentashn) |
| Adult fun | Drink marijuana in thandai, eat pot mithai | It’s a mitzvah to drink wine until you can no longer tell the difference between the phrase “Cursed is Haman” and “Blessed is Mordechai” |
| Bonfires | Holika burned in effigy | (Traditionally) Haman burned in effigy |
| Somewhat bloody theological justification | The Asura, Hiranyakashipu, tries to burn his own son, Prahlad, alive, but instead incinerates his sister, Holika. | The vizier, Haman, plots a genocide against the Jews. The Queen, Esther, saves the Jews and instead they get to destroy their enemies. |
| How religious is it? | There are different theological explanations for the event, so I would guess not very. | The book of Esther is the only book in the Hebrew Bible that doesn’t mention G-d. |
My favorite family Holi story involves somebody from my parent’s generation who, as a young child, went to somebody’s house on Holi where he was offered bhang pakoras. This boy had no idea what they were, so he ate some, got the munchies, ate some more, got hungrier … Sounds like a beginners programming error, the poor kid was stuck in what would have been an infinite loop if somebody hadn’t stopped his snacking!
Happy belated holidays to you both. And may your morning afters be peaceful and mild.
Purim is my favorite Jewish holiday for 3 reasons: 1) Alcohol 2) Hammantashen (the cookies picture above) are delicious. 3) Esther was married to a non-Jew–go miscegenation!
An Israeli colleague once told me that the Hamantashen are called by a different name in Hebrew, which roughly translates into “Haman’s ears”. That gives Cookie-Monster a whole new meaning!
Nice post Ennis. Informative, fun, non-opinionated and non-instigating. Keep them coming.
DDiA: yep, that would be oznei Haman
So a good Hindu-Jew would throw colrful cookies at people? Right? Jam fight!
DDiA:Me heart Cookie Monster. Me heart cookies! Yum yum yum!
Another Judaic Holi baked goods connection–according to Wikipedia Regina Spektor is a Russian-born Jew, and here Brimful blogged a music video of hers with a Holi twist. The Baked goods connection? Brimful is the Mutiny’s own Bakery Devi.
i must concur with saheli… i’ve had the opportunity to eat some of her divine works…and they are superb… worth the wait! (thanks again b!)
My favorite family Holi story involves me. I got completely wasted on Bhang. It took almost a day and a half to wear off. Had a little inconvenience called final exams to attend to in the meanwhile. Entered the exam hall with purple, green face (these colours don’t run either). Had to get a friend to help me on the sly and somehow ended up outscoring everyone in the class.
Victory to the righteous.
Line 10 “eat bhang pakoras” Line 20 Goto line 10
eat bhang pakoras eat bhang pakoras eat bhang pakoras…..
Ah memories of Basic programing in 8th grade, long before C+ or C++
Hinjew articles:
http://kishkushim.blogspot.com/2007/01/israel-must-look-east-far-east.html#comment-8170398587534205550
Haha, nice job Ennis. The similarities do come out. I made a chart like that once, with an additional column for Carnaval.
mmmm….bhang ki thandai or even better a bhang lassi