Purim

My first holiday in this experiment was Purim. (I found it kinda cute that my first holiday was a Jewish one, and Judaism is the oldest of the three).

Purim was definitely in interesting way to start this experiment, and a joyous one as well. It is the celebration of Queen Ester saving the Jews, and one of the few celebrations which boisterousness is expected and even required.
I went with my room mate Isaac, who is Jewish, and Sam, who decided to join me in the interfaith experiment. As we rushed out the door, I realized that I hadn't put any consideration into clothing, and had no idea whether or not there would be any form of dress code.

"Isaac, is what I am wearing alright?" I asked, pointing to my usual t-shirt and jeans ensemble.
Isaac laughed. "Alia, it's Purim. You could wear a freaking toga."
I laughed, thinking he was joking, and we drove to the synagogue, called Beth Sholom, which I found out later is the largest Jewish community in the state.

He wasn't joking.

Inside the synagogue, I was surrounded by people in medieval dress, astronaut costumes, western style cowboy hats and denim, firemen, and even Jack Sparrow. The rabbi was dressed as a hippie, sporting a purple Led Zeppelin shirt, long hair, and a tie-dye bandanna. I felt very under dressed.

We listened to the rabbi read the Megilla (Book of Ester), cheered at every mention of Ester and Mordecai, and booed and hiss at Haman's name, rattling our ra'ashans (noisemakers). We ate a variety of hamantaschens, chocolate chip being my favorite. We even broke out into a rendition of "I am woman, hear me roar," and the rabbi repeatedly called Ester a "foxy lady."
It was, I have to admit, a very surreal experience, one I wasn't expecting. But I did thoroughly enjoy myself, and joined in with the festivities, laughing at the jokes and hissing at Haman's name.

The topic of religion is often a heavy and serious one, and I was glad to have to opportunity to participating in a light-hearted religious occasion.

There was one slightly serious moment which caught my interest. The rabbi pointed out that in the story, where the Jews rise up and kill those who had planned to attack them, never actually happened. It was added as inspiration for the Jews to stand up and fight against the Greeks who were discriminating against them at the time.