What we did on Purim.

The Purim Parody roundup is NOT OVER. First of all, many blogs added additional parody posts the past few days, so you may want to re-check them via the blogroll.

Secondly, we couldn't just let the carnival fizzle out without a grandslam finish. Coming soon!

Here's a roundup of the past few days at the Muqata.

We tortured our guests who dropped by into dressing up for Purim -- and shamelessly took their pictures and posted them here. Here's one victim of our needless cruelty:

(note the annoying pink rabbit ears)

Purim itself was mellow and uneventful. Maybe I OD'd on Purim this year with all these parodies, making Purim itself slightly anti-climactic.

I called a few friends, drove a bit to drop off some mishloach manot to relatives, friends, and relatives of friends. We ate the seuda with close friends across the street. Called Amshinover during his wild Purim party in Brooklyn - there was alot of background noise and it sounded like his place was a-hoppin'.

Calling friends up, new and old is a great way to keep life dynamic and fun...and as I read somewhere not to long ago, "Friendships are what makes life sweet," and I wholeheartedly agree.

On a personal note, I re-connected with a distant relative by email 2 years ago, and we emailed back and forth for a while -- sending pictures and the like. The last time I met him was probably when I was 3 years old.

He recounted all sorts of invaluable family history from a unique perspective that I never heard before (or was likely to ever hear again) and I planned on meeting him during one of my trips abroad. He died before I ever got to meet him, and in my stupidity, it never occurred for me to just pick up the phone and call!

While email and I'M may be great, it killed me that I never picked up the phone to just CALL him and say hi...I could have heard more in a 5 minute phone call than in 10 emails.

The Muqata was in the news alot yesterday, with Israel going into Yericho and nabbing some Palestinian terrorists (responsible for Rechavam Ze'evi's murder and the mastermind of the weapons smuggling boat, Karin-A).

Since Yericho was a walled city, they are celebrating Shushan Purim there today, albeit without the extra prisoners that the IDF extracted.

Happy Shushan Purim, and get ready for the big finale of the Purim roundups!


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael