Purim Around the World: Ulyanovsk, Russia

This year, Purim in Ulyanovsk, Russia was especially joyous. For the fourth year in a row, the Jewish community was allowed to use the city’s Tatar Islamic Cultural Center free of charge to host the Purim party, alleviating from them the financial cost of renting a hall.

The Purim event began with a carnival featuring competitive games, exciting booths and face painting. On the other side of the hall there was a food table with a bar, hamantashen, a popcorn machine, a cotton candy machine and sandwiches.

Both children and adults enjoyed a professional ‘bubble show.’

For the second part of the event, the participants were seated in an adjacent hall. Rabbi Yossi Marozov read from the Megillah while the crowd listened and enthusiastically made lots of noise when he read the name “Haman”.

Matonos L’evyonim was collected and distributed to 20 poor families in the city. The participants were also given Mishoach manos, which they exchanged with their friends, thus fulfilling all four Mitzvos of Purim.

The event ended with a lively costume contest, with the audience cheering for the costumes they thought were best.