The congregation’s Purim festivities kicked off on Sunday, Feb. 26th with a hamantaschen baking class sponsored by Beth Ahabah’s Young Adult Community Kibbitz (YACK).
Participants made three types of dough and used apricot, blueberry, raspberry, poppy seed, and pumpkin pie fillings to make dozens of delicious hamantaschen! (To be notified of upcoming events for young adults, please contact Sarah Roper at programs@bethahabah.org.)
On Friday, March 3rd the celebrations continued with an Erev Shabbat service celebrating Purim.
The entire community was invited to the service that included prayers set to the tune of “Baby Shark,” “The Addams Family” theme, and the Star Wars “Imperial March”—all led by Sesame Street’s Bert (a.k.a. Cantor Sarah Beck-Berman) and Ernie (Rabbi Scott Nagel).
Then congregants participated in a lively English Megillah reading featuring appearances by King Ahashuerus, Haman (BOO!), and the king’s noble steed.
The service also featured disco lights, lasers, bubbles, and lots of confetti! At the conclusion of the festivities in the sanctuary, everyone was invited to a free carnival-style dinner of corn dogs, nachos, popcorn, cotton candy, snow cones, hamantaschen, and the Rabbi’s special Purim punch in Beth Ahabah’s lobby.
Meanwhile, the Goldburg Auditorium was set up with a plethora of games, most of which were handmade by members of the Beth Ahabah Brotherhood.
Many thanks to the Beth Ahabah Brotherhood for running the games and handing out prizes to participants, as well as to the Women of Beth Ahabah for serving dinner.
A recording of the service is available on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@congregationbethahabah.
The fun continued at Religious School on Sunday, March 5th as students entered the Land of Oz upon entering the building (even Lottie the Temple Dog made an appearance as Toto).
Students spent the morning celebrating Purim, studying Hebrew, learning about the mountains of Israel, and discussing the weekly Torah portion. The morning ended with a T’filah service in the sanctuary with an abbreviated (but very spirited!) Megillah reading full of cheers for Esther and Mordechai and resounding boos for Haman!
Later that evening, Beth Ahabah was proud to present its annual Purim shpiel. This year’s show, “A Beach Boychik Purim Shpiel,” was set to the music of the Beach Boys with a backdrop of King Ahashuerus’s royal sand castle.
The cast had been rehearsing since the beginning of the year, and they were thrilled to perform for an audience of more than 150. Thank you to Ken Roeper for directing and to the entire cast and crew for a fun, entertaining, and totally tubular performance!
