Foto Friday – Ancient Masks and Rattle Relics

February 26, 2010 - 1:44 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Holidays 

Growing up as daughters of a rabbi, biblical scholar and part-time archeologist, my sisters and I never questioned the historical roots of Purim. So, I find it both amusing and disturbing that most people regard the Purim story as a myth or fairytale when it really is a docu-drama. Or, as my father put it, it is the story of a clash of empires that actually occurred and in which the Jews played a pivotal role.

Here is what Dr. David Neiman z”l thought: “The story of Purim is an account of the historical events related in the Scroll of Esther. Biblical scholars have always had a problem with this story and other biblical narratives which are beautifully written. It is as if the perfection of the literary work leads them to doubt its historical accuracy.” A portion of his audio lecture, The Politics of Purim is available online.

Our Purim traditions — masquerading, using noisemakers and getting drunk — are rooted in pre-Biblical pagan rites and our region’s archeological sites yield historical proof. In honor of the Purim holiday, the Israel Antiquities Authority has posted an online exhibition of ancient masks and rattles.

There is no clear historical moment that divides between the use of masks for ritual and for theater. But given their era, the masks presented by the IAA were definitely intended for ritual use.

Mask – image of a man, from Akhziv. Photograph: Miki Koren, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Mask from Nahal Hemer cave. Photograph: Nahum Selpak, courtesy of the Israel Museum.

Grotesque mask from Akhziv. Photograph: Miki Koren, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Ancient rattles are known from the third millennium BCE to the first century BCE. It is believed they were used primarily for ritual purposes. Clay rattles that contain small stones or other materials for making noise have been found in archaeological excavations all over the country.

Rattle from the City of David. Photograph: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Rattle from Hazor. Photograph: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

For more on the historical background of the Jews of Persia, The Book of Esther and life in ancient Persia – including the best pony express in the ancient world:

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The white holiday

May 26, 2009 - 2:12 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Food, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness 

dry-bonesShavuot is approaching, and what I like about this holiday in Israel is that you can celebrate it from a variety of approaches. If you’re observant, there’s the standard ‘yontif‘ handling of the holiday, which means food, prayers, something white to wear, and heading to a tikkun on Shavuot eve to learn all or part of the night.

But as one of the three pilgrimage festivals — Sukkot and Passover are the other two — Shavuot ranks up there in Israel, with all kinds of alternative and traditional festivities that appeal to even the most secular of Israeli Jews. There are the kibbutz celebrations, which include small children dressed in white, arms akimbo in order to hold baskets of recently picked fruit and vegetables to mark Shavuot’s stance as an agricultural festival. There are the usual family gatherings, as Israelis so love to do, including tables groaning with all kinds of homemade dairy fare, since this is considered to be the ‘dairy’ holiday. (See this great JTA article about alternatives to dairy on Shavuot.)

And since Israelis also love their dairy — we have more types of yogurt drinks per capita than any other country — one of the local dairy companies, Tnuva, puts out a Shavuot magazine each year, as an insert in the local newspapers, with dairy recipes from the kitchens of their employees. Nicely done, and, I have to say, it has been the source of more than one good recipe that’s come out of my kitchen.

There are also the learning celebrations, given Shavuot’s source as the holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah, and that has led to the traditional tikkun, all-night learning that takes place on the night of the holiday. In my city of Jerusalem, a city of much learning, there are hundreds of tikkunim to choose from, held at every synagogue, yeshiva, school and place of learning. But what I’ve loved in years past is to head to Tel Aviv, where the streets are full of people dressed in white heading to all-night lectures of the more alternative type. Those can include poetry readings, yoga and Torah, discussions about the place of Torah in a secular society, or, for the more party-oriented, all-night clubbing in honor of Shavuot. For that matter, since Tel Aviv is considered the white city for its collection of Bauhaus architecture, you could celebrate Shavuot by doing a midnight tour of Bauhaus structures.

I will be making cheesecake, but I won’t be heading out for some all-night (not that I ever did) learning this year. But if you’re in J-town, I did notice some great options for the Tikkun, including an Israeli singdown and a 12:30 am walk around the Old City, hosted by the Tower of David Museum.

Happy learning and eating.

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