Another Once Upon a Time In Jerusalem – and this time:
A little more from Adloyada, 1959.
Jerusalem’s Purim was always a mystery – would it snow? Rain? Or would we be blessed with warm weather?
The preparations began several weeks in advance, with the leading costumes being cowboy (Koboy in Jerusalemite), Native Indian, Soldier, or Policeman.
The girls debated between being a princess, Queen Esther, or a fairy, as all three were the popular choices.
For the daring girls, there were costumes of butterflies or policewomen, costumes that today seem in the era of conservation and thriftiness like representatives of modesty patrols.
For the anarchists of that time, there was a punk costume, which was essentially the same thing but with makeup, sunglasses, and black lipstick.
The daring ones would spray their hair with brightly colored spray, instantly changing its appearance to feel like a wooden board.
If you wanted to guess what costume your friend would wear, you would need to know what costume their older sibling wore last year, and most likely, the costume would be passed down to the younger sibling this year.
Plastic flintlock pistols, small plastic circles with fire powder, an arrow with a single head that we would forcefully shoot onto the floor making a loud noise, rolling fire powder in red paper circles, firecrackers, and other destructive toys that today would shut down the Standards Institution and send the importers to prison for the rest of their lives.
The “Mishlochey Manot” were wrapped in a wrinkled plastic bag containing a lollipop (the Jerusalemite’s version is “Metzitzah”), a handful of crumbling hamantaschen, Bazooka gum, chocolate lentil candies, and that was if the friend was a really important friend , and the parents could afford it.
In later years, the scene in the city developed, with hundreds of cowboys, Indians, and policemen flooding Ben Yehuda Street, congregating around Gidi Yon’s small record store, 20 square meters with loudspeakers blasting outside, instead of iTunes, YouTube, and Spotify of today, all in one card.
With a hairstyle by Eli Ohana, with a roll on the neck and a trail in the middle, everyone felt like they were walking on the red carpet on Oscar night.
Those who received pocket money from Grandma went to buy a bag of popcorn at Bahri Smatá or a Sabinah cake.
A little foam, a lot of congestion, sticky hands, and makeup smeared on faces, and everyone was happy to the max, feeling like at a millennium party in Ibiza.
Those were the days of back then –
An outsider won’t understand.
Whoever was there and experienced it – will never forget.
Purim is a holiday of concealment and also of reversal.
Let’s hope and pray that everything will turn for the better,
that we will see the uniqueness and miracle of our people, and that we will be worthy.
Happy Purim and Shabbat Shalom to the far and near from Jerusalem ❤️
Poster Image – National Archive
