By Robert Kalfus
The usual Purim celebration of the Chabad of Yonkers this year instead minimized contact between people, due to concerns about not spreading the Coronavirus through unintended contact, and those entering the synagogue were first greeted with a large bottle of hand sanitizer next to a donation collection box (pushka) in which to place the suggested fee for the Purim event, party and dinner. But the celebration was not dampened – only more careful.
The correct, most sanitary sequence would have been to enter with your money already in hand, put it into the box, and then thoroughly clean one’s hands. Even better would have been to prepay!
Concerned about the health of congregants and limiting the possibility of spreading germs, Rabbi Mendy Hurwitz of the Chabad of Yonkers and his wife, Rebbetzin Chanie Hurwitz, designated two people wearing serving gloves to serve the food buffet-style, instead of everyone handling the serving utensils and possibly passing germs to others.
The annual joyous Purim holiday commemorates the Jewish people’s victory in the year 356 BCE over the plot of the wicked Haman, viceroy of the Persian Empire, to destroy all of the Jewish men, women and children throughout the Persian Empire’s 127 provinces. Purim started Monday night, March 9, after sunset, and continued through Tuesday, March 10. On both days, people listened attentively to the public reading of the Megillah, a handwritten scroll from which the Book of Esther is read aloud, recounting the entire Purim chronology.
The annual Purim celebration featured this year’s “Purim in Italy” theme and saw people dressed in costumes featuring the colors of Italy’s flag, theme-appropriate costumes, and a delicious kosher dairy Italian-style Purim buffet, followed by a wine and cheese tasting provided by Yonkers’ own “The Cheese Guy” Brent Delman, who offered a wide variety of his artisanal cheeses. Children enjoyed face painting, a balloon artist, and a magic show.
Rabbi Hurwitz welcomed all to the Purim celebration. “We look forward to Purim all year long, as it is the most joyous day on the Jewish calendar,” he said. “We celebrate the day with gifts of food, charity, reading the book of Esther, dressing in masquerade and festive celebrations.”
