Purim a Time for Noise and Fun!

Bellingham, WA — Walking past the Bloedel Donovan community building, you’d think it was New Year’s Eve and the clock had just struck midnight.

And for many of the costumed kids and jovial adults dancing Jewish folk dances to a band called What the Chelm! it’s that magnitude of celebration.

On Sunday, hundreds of Jews from across Whatcom County celebrated Purim, a religious holiday marking the Jewish people’s escape from persecution and genocide in ancient Persia.

Bloedel Donovan was the location of Congregation Beth Israel’s annual Purim carnival, a kid-friendly event for a kidfriendly day. Games, food and prizes modeled after the Purim story kept elementary-age kids busy.

“It’s certainly a ‘dress up, play games and make noise’ kind of holiday,” said Ann Suloway, a Bellingham resident and Beth Israel attendee.

Purim also involves giving gifts to friends and charities. Children from Beth Israel spent the morning doing traditional dances for the residents of The Willows, a local retirement community.

Although it’s a religious celebration, the joy of the event was not lost on non-Jewish community members. George Drake of Bellingham said he enjoyed seeing such an expression of Jewish identity.

“I’m someone who appreciates cultural diversity,” Drake said. “Let’s not hide it, let’s flaunt it.”

At the North Garden Family Center, the Chabad Jewish Center held a reading of the Purim story from the book of Esther before beginning a Persianthemed dinner. According to tradition, those reading the story use noisemakers called graggers whenever the story mentions Haman, the villain plotting the genocide that was thwarted by the story’s heroes, Esther and Mordechai.

“We’re trying to eradicate the memory,” said Rabbi Levi Backman.

And as the story was read in Hebrew, kids and adults smiled while they made noise with whatever they could, twirling their graggers, banging on the tables and pounding their feet on the ground in a celebration that has been going on for generations.

“(The book of Esther) says it will be celebrated for all time,” Backman said. “It’s the happiest day of the year.”