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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