Reality on Hold This Evening

Dear friends,

Happy Purim! I'm psyched to celebrate with you all this evening.

Purim is healthiest of our holidays, because we get to embody the opposite of our so called reality. Finally we rid ourselves of ourselves, our ideas, our understanding of how things "are." Such a ridiculous pretense, to imagine we understand such things! And so we embrace NAHAFOCH HU, the upside down. We embrace not knowing, Ad Delo Yada. We ride the wave of insanity and take a bath in the absurd. We wash our minds in thought-altering liquids. We hide who we are from ourselves and others. We live another's life for a day.

Tonight's celebration will be an attempt to do all of that through completing eight tasks. Four of them were decreed by the rabbis, and four by the people throughout the generations. Here's what you will need (in advance is great, but you can cobble it all together as we go as well):

The r A b B i S said :::)
1. READ the Megillah. We will share the link tonight but you will be happier if you print it out.
2. Give presents to loved ones. Bring a thing, a thought, a hug, a word for someone you love.
3. Gifts to the poor. We will share a link to donate this evening.
4. Eat! Bring something to nibble, or a full feast. Popcorn might be a good way to go as we are going to read through the whole Megillah!

The P e O p L e said:::/!
1. Dress in costume. This may seem childish or not necessary. It's not. It's really at the heart of losing ourselves to this more primal reality, which we will no doubt accomplish through our Upper Torso Costume Contest!
2. Make noise! Use groggers, musical instruments, spoons, pots, pans, vocal chords or any other device.
3. Get drunk. Again, this may seem unnecessary. You know your body best. And there are kids around (including mine!). But Rabbi Zach had this great tradition of Who's drunker than the rabbi, which I plan to uphold this evening. Bring your booze of choice!
4. Forget everything. If we follow the guidelines set up by our ancestors we are guaranteed a moment of total undoing.

See you at 6pm HERE!

Rabbi Misha