My first Adloyada
Earlier in the week I attended my local Purim Parade (Adloyada – See Rachel’s always excellent and entertaining Nostalgia Sunday piece here). I don’t like parades. Never got them and standing on the side of the road, often in extreme weather, as sub-mediocre bands and masses of children waving walk by isn’t exactly how I like to spend my mornings. Yes, I’m a cynic. Have been for quite some time now. But I am willing to concede that witnessing life through my young daughter’s eyes is starting to lift the veil a bit and is having, ahem, a somewhat profound effect on me.
As we approached the crowd my daughter, dressed as a bumblebee, grew visibly excited with a highly curious “I don’t know what’s going on here” look. My city’s parade is not a glamorous affair. Most of the marchers are from local schools, clubs and sports teams. This didn’t stop her from demonstrating her excitement. “Boys!” she exclaimed as a group of young basketball players ran by dribbling. “Dancing!” she screamed as one of the local dance troupes pranced along as she did a little spin of her own. “Mah Zeh! (Hebrew for “what’s that?”) she asked as a guy dressed in a horrible Shrek costume with his underwear hanging out walked bye.
The Democratic School of Modi’in marched in Gilad Shalit t-shirts and carried banners promoting awareness that even on this happy and celebratory day, Shilat is still in captivity. Thankfully, my little bumblebee didn’t ask about them, because honestly, I wouldn’t know what to say.
Nostalgia Sunday on Tuesday – Adloyada
Filed under: Art, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture
Apologies for the delay in posting; this was due to circumstances far beyond my control. Whew. Okay. A moment before the Purim holiday ends, let’s take a look at days gone by, in particular the Adloyada parade.
“Adloyada” is a bastardization of the phrase “ad lo yada” or “unable to differentiate”, referring to the Purim tradition of drinking until one is unable to tell the difference between evil Haman and good Mordechai. The parade was instituted in 1912, in Tel Aviv, the first modern Jewish city, by a teacher at the Herzliya Gymnasium high school and became the stomping ground for Hevre Trask (”the noisy folks”), a band of merrymaking bohemians.
In the 1920s, the event had its profile raised by dancer-choreographer and bon vivant Baruch Agadati. Here he is, the crown prince of of Tel Aviv night life in the 1920s, pictured with Zippora Zabari, winner of the “Queen Esther” beauty contest for 1928.
And another Purim lovely:
And here’s a picture of the parade itself, which was famous for its floats.
It had the support of Mayor Meir Dizengoff. This costume parodied his well-known penchant for riding around town on a horse.
At the end of the 1920s, a committee of artists, poets, architects and theater people was established with the stated goal of giving the Adloyada a higher educational and artistic tone, and it became something of an establishment tool.
Adloyada floats never shied away from politics, such as the 1926 coffin burying the British Mandate, and the 1934 anti-Nazism float. The event ceased activity in 1936 but after it was reestablished in the 1950s, the topical subjects continued. Here’s Egypt’s Gamal Abdul Nasser and David Ben-Gurion, acting out a prime ministerial summit that never happened in reality… as far as we know…
The Adloyada shut down, once again, in the 1970s and was revived, once again in the early 1980s by the Sheinkin avant garde, led by a stellar performance artist, the late Danny Zakheim. This time, the tone was different and probably more like that of the original Adloyada of the 1920s – a punk street fair bacchanal that went on for days. Here’s Mayor Shlomo Lahat venturing into unknown territory.
There are a few parades today calling themselves Adloyada. Holon – a sleepy suburb with ambitions to become Israel’s new center of the visual arts – has apparently been deemed the location for the national Adloyada. But the real deal has been and always will be Tel Aviv. It’s only a matter of time before the Adloyada comes back home.
Celebrating Purim
Filed under: Food, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life
It’s Purim time, and here’s a couple photos from our annual Megilla reading. My family belongs to an egalitarian ‘havura’ – one of dozens around the country connected to the Masorti Movement (Conservative in the US).
About 50 revelrers gathered to hear the mitzvah of the reading, which was shared this year by Rachel, a member of our congregation who learned how to read the Megillah for the first time, and by Liron, a rabbinical student from the Conservative seminary – Neve Shechter – in Jerusalem. There was a lively Purim quiz in between chapters for the children, and some major nosh time after with oznei haman (Hamentuschen) and drinks.
These days, with Iran and Hamas and Hizbullah breathing down our shoulders, it’s always reassuring to hear the story of how an enemy of the Jewish people got his just rewards. Happy Purim to all.
A green Purim (not what you think)
The holiday of Purim for me was once synonymous with debauchery, chaos and wilding. Obviously as I matured in the thirtysomething adult that I am today getting rip roaring drunk until I was unable to distinguish between good and evil became a less of a priority. I was thinking last night about my previous Purim celebrations and experiences.
Back in the spring of 2005 (right on Purim) roughly 3000 thousand of Irish football fans (that’s soccer to you Americans) fell in one big swoop on Tel Aviv. The Israel-Ireland World Cup qualifying match was held in Tel Aviv. The Irish football fans are known for their undying dedication to their team and will follow them anywhere to support them. Tel Aviv, to their credit, welcomed the Irish with open arms. I recall the weather being beautiful and the beach and promenade was packed with Israelis and Irishmen alike (way too easy telling them apart). The cultural differences were apparent though. The Israelis were enjoying coffee in the cafes that line the beach while the pubs across the treat were filled to the brim with the Irish with glasses…well..for a lack of better expression…filled to the brim. But it wasn’t a completely segregated scene. I saw many Israelis reveling and shmoozing with the Irish folk in the bars and one too many pasty Irishman soaking in the sun’s rays on the beach. I also witnessed random Israelis approaching green-clad Irishmen and striking up conversations. The vibes and the atmosphere were terrific.
The Irish in Tel Aviv seemed to really be enjoying Purim. Purim celebrates the foiling of a plot against the Jews by the wicked Haman. Most Jewish holidays have the same theme. They tried to kill us all, let’s eat. The Irish are equally consistent. It’s a holiday, let’s drink.
Happy Purim to all
It’s Purim tomorrow, and the mayhem has already begun. Kids across the country dressed up this morning ready to take to school in whatever outfits they had dreamed up – anything from male tooth fairies, to hippies, football stars, or dinosaurs.
After a wild weekend of raiding cupboards, empty toy shops, and friends’ homes, we were up at 6am, brushing wigs, combing out beards, and drawing wrinkles with my best eye liner on one child, and nuclear disarmament symbols on another. Ah, I love this holiday.
So in honor of Purim, here’s a video ISRAEL21c took last year, which gives you a flavor of what this whacky holiday is about.
Foto Friday – Paws for Purim
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, Holidays, Pop Culture
Dogs never demand to be put in a Purim costume. And yet, since dog owners persist in dressing up their four-legged friends, Israeli pet-owner portal Hav-Hav has decided to put them on show. (”Hav-hav”, by the way, is the Hebrew equivalent of “bow-wow”). The fourth annual Hapess Ta’Kelev competition will be held on March 11th, at the Renanim Mall in Ra’anana. That gives Fido a few more days to come up with a costume idea. It’s definitely worthwhile, because the prize is a year’s worth of gear and food from pet store chain Jungle.
But you have to register by submitting photos – and here’s some of the competition. More can be found here.
This royal fellow is a winner from a few years back.
Another winner from previous years… clearly channeling “I Dream of Jeanie”…
Okay, this one may be bordering on the inhumane.
The competition name, by the way, Hapess Ta’Kelev is a play on words with one meaning being something like “dress up yer dog” and the other being “go find yer dog.” Take my word for it – the pun works in Hebrew. And hav-hav a happy Purim, everyone!
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