PuriminFlorentin

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While soldiers, policemen and Israeli missions overseas entered a state of super-high alert for a reprisal to the assassination 40 days ago of Hizbullah 'defense minister' Imad Mughniya, the rest of us prepared for Purim.

Frazzled mums stayed up all night putting the final touches to the costumes of the little ones to show off at school or at the bigger Purim carnival adaloyada parades like the one in Holon that is happening today. Meanwhile, Tel Aviv's older balyanim (clubbers?) were preparing their own costumes. The tradition of Tel Aviv adloyada carnival craziness goes back to the 1910s and 20s. The tradition of a massive street party in cool Florentin is much younger but this year caught on big time.


On Thursday night, attempting to disguise our age with outdated Purim costumes, we mingled with the twenty-somethings as they danced the night away to the sounds of outdoor DJs and live bands. The alcohol flowed like water until the revellers, in the Purim tradition, failed to distinguish between (good) Mordechai the Jew and (bad) Haman, or in today's context- between one whiskey chaser and another, or until they simply couldn't stand up any more (click pics for details).
















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