Spirituality
Donations, Do-si-dos, Spaghetti And Spoofs
Purim fests proved varied and fun — along with the mitzvah of giving.
Left: Marni Foster
Lupovitch of West
Bloomfield and her
mom, Joy Foster
of Hamilton, Ont.,
brought pasta for
Yad Ezra to Beth
Ahm's Purim
hoedown.
Far left: Purim
partiers at Beth
Ahm have fun at
the hoedown.
Above: Rabbi Simcha and Estie Tolwin
of Aish Huntington Woods have a
"peace-ful" Purim.
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Senior Writer
A
long with the traditional carni-
vals, costumes and reading of
Megillat Esther, area synagogues
celebrated Purim with everything from
pasta shaking and crazy hats to square
dancing and innovative Purim shpiels
(humorous plays or skits).
Many groups, including the Chabad
Jewish Center of Commerce — which host-
ed a Saturday, Feb. 27, Fiddler on the Roof
celebration — played a part in Yad Ezra's
Purim Pasta Shake-Up. Participants of the
program brought unopened bags or boxes
of kosher pasta to the megillah reading to
shake as a grogger (Purim noisemaker).
The pasta was later donated to Yad Ezra.
The Berkley-based kosher food pantry also
asked community members to help fulfill
the Purim mitzvah of matanot l'evyonim
(giving gifts to the needy) by making dona-
tions to help feed the 3,600 members of the
Jewish community who rely on Yad Ezra for
assistance every month.
At Aish Huntington Woods, a Sunday,
Feb. 28, Purim party — complete with
contests, balloonists and lunch — turned
the tables on the kids with the story of
Purim performed by the adults in their
"Parents Put on Purim" program.
"Year after year, we watch our cute little
munchkins perform their version of the
Purim play:' said Ayala Kohn, director of
the Aish Sunday school program. "This
year, our very own moms and dads 'put on
Purim:"
The Hamantashen Hoedown at
Congregation Beth Ahm in West
Bloomfield brought square dancers in
plaid shirts, cowboy hats and dancing
boots to a lively Feb. 27 Purim party.
At the Shul-Chabad Lubavitch in West
Bloomfield, it was hamantashen, music,
homemade soup and a masquerade of hats
on Feb. 27. "We all wear different hats but
we all think Jewish:' said Itty Shemtov of
the Shul. "Wearing a disguise helps us to
focus on our inner similarities because
after all, the outer garb is so transient"
The Shul also organized a first-time, day-
long megillah reading at Coby's Judaica
Center — inside the West Bloomfield JCC
— for those unable to hear it in the syna-
gogue. Students from the Oak Park-based
Yeshivas Menachem Mendel Lubavitch of
Detroit took turns reading the megillah on
Feb. 28.
"These dedicated yeshivah boys are
looking to enable every Jew to celebrate
the holiday:' Shemtov said. "Making the
mitzvah easily available was most appro-
priate:'
For those unable to leave their homes,
the Shul also arranged for the megillah
— and a megillah reader — to come to
them. Li
Sunny Cohen, 6, of West Bloomfield,
Yossi Cohen, 3, of Oak Park, and Miya
Cohen, 8, Chaya Mushka Stein, 3,
At Coby's Judaica, Jim Hill of Novi,
Shmuel Levin of Seattle and Coby
Jacki and Gordon Smith of Commerce
and Golda Rappaport, 5, all of West
Gutkovitch listen as Shmuli Grossbaum
Township enjoy the megillah reading at
Bloomfield, had fun at the Shul-Chabad
Steingold, of Bloomfield Hills, shake
of Toronto reads the megillah.
Chabad of Commerce.
Lubavitch's Purim celebration.
their pasta-groggers at Beth Ahm.
Hunter Steingold, 10, and Sean
March 4 2010
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