I grew up in a very small, non-diverse, Christian town in southern Maine. I had a great upbringing in my quaint seaside New England community, but I was not exposed to different cultures or religions. One of the things that excited me the most about Brandeis is its diverse student body and celebration of all different traditions and events. On the other hand, as someone who did not know much about other faiths, I was afraid to ask people what different celebrations on campus signified for fear that I would be asking a seemingly stupid question. However, my experience leading up to Purim showed me that my fears were all for not. For those of you who, like me, don’t know what Purim is, here is a little background:
According to the Torah, King Ahasuerus married Esther, a beautiful Jewish woman. However, the prime minister under the King, Haman, despised the Jewish people and made a decree that all of the Jewish people must be killed. In an effort to save her people, Queen Esther revealed to her husband that she was Jewish resulting in the King reversing Haman’s decree and eventually killing Haman. Purim is the holiday to celebrate Queen Esther’s action to save her people. To celebrate, many people dress up and party, thus it being referred to as the ‘Jewish halloween’. The costumes signify that sometimes you must dig deeper than what is on the outside in order to gain a true understanding for a person.
The only previous knowledge that I had of Esther was from what I had seen of her in VeggieTales during church school (in the cartoon she is a Leek, see picture above). But now, I know her story and that she was a strong-a**-lady. The students here have been so kind and understanding in telling me about their faith and love for this holiday. At first, I couldn’t even pronounce Purim correctly, but with some patience and help from my friends, I now understand what an amazing and fun holiday this is. Brandeis as a school has also done a great job of informing people about the different religious celebrations occurring by sending out emails that explain the different holidays. I feel so incredibly lucky to be part of a community that is so accepting and understanding and I am extremely excited to celebrate my first Purim with my new friends!