Ted, et al-
I can share some festive moments – just not from this time of year, though. This is a recap of last year’s overseas festivities…
We just got back from Spain’s Barcelona this past year, from a charter sailing trip,* where we joined a synagogue celebrating Purim, the festival that recalls the ancient liberation of Jews from a supposed plot of genocide in “Persia.”
It’s a time when children dress up like American kids do on Halloween, and silly parodies and plays are performed, too, here in the US.  In Barcelona, the Rabbi and his wife greeted us in full clown regalia at a high rise hotel conference suite rented for the event! After the initial service (performed only by men), and the reading of the story of Purim (the Megillah) in Hebrew, where the name of “Hamen” (the villain in the story) was drowned out, not by USA style whirling noise-maker ”groggers,” but by tin whistles!; tables of stuffed and various folded puff pastries of vegetables, cheeses and baked sweets traditional to Spain, were devoured and washed down with big bottles of coke, juice, and schnapps (for the grown-ups), while a magician entertained with his very good slight-of-hand feats. The traditional three-cornered prune, apricot and poppy seed stuffed cookies, or “hamatashen” were just a small part of the sweets, where as in the US, they are the main ones!
The children, most in costumes, and a great many of the parents, too, were having a great time visiting. The children ran around the hall playing and in general raising perfect havoc, while the grown-ups indulgently watched and continued their visiting without scolding.
We enjoyed all of the enthusiasm and fun so much - and all of the differences in celebration from our sometimes staid US festivities. Best of all, everyone gestured us to seats to join them, asked about where we were from, etc., and made us welcome, and if not English speakers, just smiled and gestured their welcome.
In addition to Barcelona, we also visited the Balearic Islands, near Spain, where we attended Sabbath services in a whitewashed lower room under a building, where the custom was for a young, under 13 year old child to sing all of the verses to L’Cha Dodi (“Welcome the Sabbath ’bride’”), while the congregants sang the chorus. She beautifully and confidently sang all twelve verses in Hebrew by herself – something the cantor often does in the US. Mallorca’s Jews have been “hidden” for many generations, and the synagogue we attended has only been doing services openly for a decade or so. It was a privilege to join this congregation celebrating the Sabbath and to listen to the “drash” or teaching in their version of Spanish. Security was not nearly as high in Spain as in other countries in Europe we have visited, although we did have to make arrangements ahead of time and identify ourselves, there were no guards. We are so lucky not to have armed guards outside our synagogues and community centersin America. Let’s hope it stays this way!
Happy New Year!
Gail and Merv Giacomini
*from Gibraltar to the Balearic Islands with
John Connolly of Modern Sailing.