(JTA) In any other year, the mask-decorating party planned for later this month at Congregation Beth El Ner Tamid in Broomall, Pennsylvania, would make perfect sense: Costumes are part of the ritual for festive Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins Feb. 25.
This year, though, the masks being decorated aren’t meant for a carnival they’ll be appropriate to use as personal protective equipment as long as the coronavirus pandemic lasts. The gathering, and the subsequent synagoguewide celebration, will take place on Zoom.
The party represents Beth El Ner Tamid’s effort to preserve the spirit of the holiday, even as its very celebration offers a cruel reminder that an entire year has elapsed since COVID-19 turned life upside down, seemingly overnight.
(JTA) â This year we celebrated Passover early, on a Sunday a few days before St. Patrickâs Day. My adult children will disperse before the official holiday, but with the darkest days of the pandemic behind us, we have much to celebrate.
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Students at the Leffell School in Westchester County, which emerged as an early epicenter for the coronavirus last spring in New York state, celebrated Purim from home in 2020. (Courtesy of Yael Buechler/ via JTA)
JTA In any other year, the mask-decorating party planned for later this month at Congregation Beth El Ner Tamid in Broomall, Pennsylvania, would make perfect sense: Costumes are part of the ritual for festive Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins February 25.
This year, though, the masks being decorated aren’t meant for a carnival they’ll be appropriate to use as personal protective equipment as long as the coronavirus pandemic lasts. The gathering, and the subsequent synagogue-wide celebration, will take place on Zoom.
COVID-Fatigued Communities Prepare for a Distanced Purim
(JTA) In any other year, the mask-decorating party planned for later this month at Congregation Beth El Ner Tamid in Broomall, Pennsylvania, would make perfect sense: Costumes are part of the ritual for festive Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins Feb. 25.
This year, though, the masks being decorated aren’t meant for a carnival they’ll be appropriate to use as personal protective equipment as long as the coronavirus pandemic lasts. The gathering, and the subsequent synagoguewide celebration, will take place on Zoom.
The party represents Beth El Ner Tamid’s effort to preserve the spirit of the holiday, even as its very celebration offers a cruel reminder that an entire year has elapsed since COVID-19 turned life upside down, seemingly overnight.
Jews celebrate a pandemic Purim, some for the first time and some for the second February 1, 2021 12:57 pm Students at the Leffell School in Westchester County celebrated Purim from home in 2020. Westchester County emerged as an early epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak last spring in New York State. (Courtesy of Yael Buechler)
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(JTA) In any other year, the mask-decorating party planned for later this month at Congregation Beth El Ner Tamid in Broomall, Pennsylvania, would make perfect sense: Costumes are part of the ritual for festive Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins Feb. 25.
This year, though, the masks being decorated aren’t meant for a carnival they’ll be appropriate to use as personal protective equipment as long as the coronavirus pandemic lasts. The gathering, and the subsequent synagoguewide celebration, will take place on Zoom.