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READING
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As a little girl, your KOACH on Campus editor Audrey Shore, a student at Columbia/JTS, dressed up as Renuzit. Really.

A campus may be the perfect place for young people to drink. But Rabbi Elyse Winick questions how seriously you should take the command to get drunk on Purim.

On Purim, our tradition calls for fasting before feasting. How does this pertain to your own life? Abe Friedman, a student at Boston University, argues that it's your way to show solidarity with Israel

From Shushan to Hadera: Our Israeli brethren need our support. Michael Frazin, a student at the University of Illinois, says we must educate ourselves, first and foremost, by going to Israel.

Kid Tested, Adult Approved! A Jew-by-choice, Chaya Oliver, of Florida Atlantic University, learns that Purim is more than a Jewish Halloween.

Shhhhh...The masks and costumes of Purim can disguise AND reveal, according to Washington University's Adam Rosenthal.

THE LIGHTER SIDE
People of the Cook: Humorist Joel Chasnoff says Judaism may be the only religion where we eat the protagonist's body parts.

ARTICLE INDEX

The opinions expressed herein reflect those of the author and not necessarily of KOACH or the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. We do welcome your responses on the KOACH discussion listserve, KOACH@uscj.org.

On The Lighter Side...

by Joel Chasnoff

Noted Jewish campus humorist Joel Chasnoff contributes a regular column to KOACH on campus.

"The People of the Book," we are affectionately called; but we could just as well be known as "The People of the Cook," for the undeniable fact is that we Jews like to define ourselves by what we ingest. And never is that more evident than Purim time, when we partake of Ozne Haman, literally "Haman's Ears," and, in so doing, become the only religion on the planet to commemorate a holiday by eating the protagonist's body parts.

It's quite a concept - this digestion of the bad guy. We should do that at every holiday. What could be more appetizing than a nice hot serving of Pharaoh's Fingers?

But at the very least, our foods have a connection with the story we're remembering. (If someone can explain the connection between chocolate rabbits and the return of the Lord's son after a three day underground hiatus, be my guest...)

So whether it's matzah in the springtime, latkes in December, or nothing at all on Yom Kippur, we Jews know that to truly internalize a holiday, we must literally internalize the holiday. So pass me an Ear of Haman, and go easy on the fruit filling (I never was a fan of ear wax).

Happy Purim!

[Posted 2/20/02]

 

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