Shake Your Mac (& Cheese)

Purim is the Jewish version of Carnival, occurring always in close proximity to everyone else’s version of this fun holiday. This was my first time to find out how Temple Micah celebrates Purim.

I went on Monday night expecting to see young Esthers and Hamans and a few other young children in costume. But I must admit I was one of the few adults who didn’t show up with some sort of costume. The absolute best disguise was my friend Ginger, who had us all stumped for the entire evening as she glided around in her very full, very hot pink dress, with combat boots, a black wig, and a gold face mask. Absolutely no one figured it to be Ginger until she removed the mask and wig!

The featured event was the musical "Middle East Side Story", put on by the TM Players, aging from probably 6 to 60. We all came prepared to boo the villain Haman every time his name was mentioned, not using a traditional "grogger", but rather boxes of Mac & Cheese, which would be donated to a soup kitchen after Purim. One of the musical highlights was the staff’s version of "Maria", which was a duel between the names "Dolores" and "Esther", as the lead character Hadassah searched for a non-Jewish-sounding name. This included Meryl, Deborah, Toby, and Danny, all dressed in very 50's style clothing replete with poodle skirts, saddle shoes, teased hair, and pointy glasses. In the end Hadassah, now Esther, prevails with the King (who looked very much like Elvis) and Haman goes to the gallows amid a torrent of grogging.

Reya could hardly believe the Mac & Cheese story until we went to Prayer Class last night at TM, and there in the galleria was a grocery cart piled high with boxes of Mac & Cheese, just waiting for someone to pack them off to the soup kitchen.

My resolve for next year is to come in costume. TM never lacks for ways to amuse me, while I continue to become more and more entwined in this wonderful community.