Happy St. Patrick's day to all of you who celebrate, and to my fellow Irishman, isn't it great to be green? Well, it's official, JPOST, the local newspaper reported today that the Bird Flu has hit "the Holy Land." I guess all this "holiness" just couldn't save the birds. Two bird farms have been found with the disease and possibly more on the way. I guess if it's not one thing here, violence, war, racial conflict, religious conflict, why not add bird flu to the mix?

On a lighter note, this past week we celebrated Purim. It's a great Jewish holiday that celebrates the saving of the Jewish race during the time of Nebucadnezzer. Haddassah, or Esther as she is often known as, was able to save her people from mass genocide. Purim comes from the Hebrew word Pur, which is a lot...like the casting of lots... The evil Haman cast a lot to decide which day the Jews would be killed. However, in the end, it was him who faced the unfortunate "lot." On the 14th and 15th of March, Jews attend synagogue and hear the reading of the book of Esther and dess up in costumes. I've heard different reasons for the costumes: 1 because if they dress up, then they are unrecognizable as Jews and hide their identity as Queen Esther initially did, which kept her safe. or 2) the name of G-d is not mentioned in the book of Esther at all, and I believe is the only book in the Bible that does not mention him. Jewish midrash speaks of the "hester pan'im" the hiding of G-d's face, only visible between the lines of the text, but not specifically mentioned. Therefore, just as G-d hides his face, so do the Jews during their celebration.

For some people, this holiday is just a good excuse to get drunk and dress up. Jewish Halachah says that people should get so drunk that during the reading of the book of Esther, they cannot tell the difference between Mordichai (the good guy) and Haman (the bad guy). During the reading, everyone boos and makes noise with noise makers and the like whenever the name of Haman is read. People also hissed at the name of Haman's wife, and the lady in front of me at synagogue made horse neys and galloping noises when the horse was mentioned. I got a big kick out of it. It was great fun and I could actually understand the reading and follow along in the hebrew text this year. I guess my hebrew is improving...

My roommates and I followed up synagogue by going to a party at a friend's house. Since there are 5 of us, we decided to dress up as the Spice Girls. It was a great excuse to drag out our slutty clothes that we don't normally wear, and put on way too much makeup. I don't actually think we looked anything like the Spice girls, but I got to wear an Afro-wig which i loved. I think i could have been black in a former life...