Clockwise from top left:-

Dressing For
(Purim) Success

How one wild and wacky family

Shmuel Kresch, right, in
costume with friend Avi
Kohn, 10, of Southfield.

L.E., Malky, Simon,
Frayda and Mindy Kresch.

Avi Kohn and Malky
Kresch with a furry friend.

Mindy Kresch, an angel.

Malky Kresch_ as
Raggedy Ann.

enjoys the holiday.

Elizabeth Applebaum •
AppleTree Editor

I

n recent years, Simon Kresch has been a woman, a
priest, a Chasidic Jew, Darth Vader and the Tin

Man.
This might be a touch confusing for most families, but
Simon's wife and children take it all in stride. After all,
they, too, have had their share of transformations,
appearing as cowboys, angels, devils, butterflies,
dolls and spiders.
Each year, the Kresch family, of Southfield,
takes the opportunity to do something really,
well, different for Purim. ("It's our favorite holi-
day," they say.) Everyone gets
dressed up, sometimes following
a theme, sometimes simply don-
ning unique garb that expresses
his or her individuality.
"People get a kick out of it [when
they see our costumes]," says Simon,
who, when not a woman or a priest
serves in real life as an attorney.
"Well, there was that one
time when I went to shul [Young
Israel of Oak Park] and one child was really
frightened — I think I was dressed that year
as a war victim and I had a lot of fake
scars — the mother still says to me, 'I'll
never forget how you scared my child!"
. And Simon and his wife, Ruchy, did get
/ some odd looks when, still dressed in Purim
costume as priest and nun (and with Ruchy
set to deliver a child in a matter of days) they
had to run into a drugstore.
"People just couldn't stop looking," he

admits.

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2001

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This year, the Kreschs' eldest son, Zvi, is at the Univ
sity of Michigan. But becoming a college student hasn
turned him into the kind of I'm-so-cool, macho guy who
scoffs at family practices like dressing up for the holida
"Oh, for sure!" he'll be in costume, Simon says.
Eldest daughter Deena also is, of course, planning
something and her daughter, Shira Chana, won't be
spared the thrill of getting all dressed up in unforget-
table clothing even though she is the Kreschs' first
grandchild. (Other Kresch children: Frayda, 15;
Shmuel, 1 1; Malky, 1 1; L.E., 8; and Mindy, 4.)
Simon says he and the family most
prepare costumes from "whatever we
have around the house." Actually, a I
of creativity is involved as well. Simo
remembers once when, dressed as t
Wizard of Oz's Tin Man, he found
sudden inspiration while finishing his
hat, made of foil.
"I got the idea to stick a Shabbat
fi
candle right on top," h says.
Like a great Shakespearean actor
who says he learns much about the world through his
portrayal of various characters, Simon, too, says he h
actually come to a greater understanding of the suffer
ing of others because of his Purim attire.
On several occasions, Kresch has come to shul
dressed as a woman (and even read the Megillah th
way). "People told me I made an ugly woman," he
says, blaming it on the stubble that covered his chee
and chin. But he was strong enough to bear that pal
What he couldn't take was on his legs. "Those

nylons," he says.
"I don't know how women do it."

❑